Wolfe Ridge
by redwolfproductions
Summary: A year had gone by since 'the incident', and when spring break rolls around, Ben gets pretty excited, thinking that he can start something new since he's seventeen, now. However, when things take an unexpected turn and he is forced to face his nightmares all over again, what he thought was burnt to ashes back at Wolfe Ridge suddenly returns, and this time with a vengeance.
1. Spring Break

**WARNING: This chapter contains strong language.**

Chapter 1 – Spring Break

Tapping his desk impatiently, Ben stared intently at the clock. The seconds ticked by in slow motion. As each second seemed to go by, Ben's fingers continued to tap against the desk. Ben wasn't the only one, though. Everyone was just waiting for the bell to ring, releasing everyone for spring break.

Ben, who had turned seventeen only a couple months ago, had made BIG plans for this spring break. He was now a Junior in High School, and he was wanting to do something great to celebrate not only himself getting older, but just the new freedom.

So, when he had turned seventeen, he had made plans with his friends on what he would do.

Gwen and Kevin, who had arranged most of the trip, were keeping the location a secret. They wanted Ben to be surprised. However, Gwen had leaked to Ben that Kevin had found the place, making Ben a little worried. Nevertheless, Gwen and given Ben the details on what the place was like.

The place was known to be sunny during this time of the year and the lake was crystal clear. When Gwen had told Ben that there was a wide, clean lake, Ben had instantly been won over.

Kevin had also told Ben that when he was little, he had spent nights there in the woods by himself. The nights were lit by the moon, and you could hear the noises of the forest and it's animals. He had made a clearing by the lake himself as a camping site, and had even weaved a rope, hanging it over a tree branch for swinging off the side of boulders and into the lake.

There was lots more to do by the lake, though. Ben knew there was. There was fishing, hiking, and just about anything else that he had been missing out on for the past couple years. Ben needed this vacation.

Just thinking about the vacation made Ben's mind wonder off. Suddenly, the bell rung, making Ben snap back into focus, launching himself out of his desk. Ben was the first to throw open the classroom's door and make his way out into the halls.

Everyone was in a frenzy, wanting to get home for their spring break.

* * *

Ben threw open his front door. Gwen and Kevin were already in his living room, along with some of his friends. Ben huffed. He was hoping on getting to his house first, or at least after Gwen and Kevin. Well, at least he wasn't last.

The living room corner was filled with backpacks and packs, ready to go on the trip. Among them all was Ben's, most likely buried at the bottom. Ben left the front door open, letting warm, spring air inside. When he walked into the room, he saw his parents standing in the back.

His father was grinning widely, looking proud. However, his mother tried to smile, but she couldn't help looking worried. While his father was happy with Ben going on a trip with his friends without any adults, his mother was slightly worried.

"You could get lost. Or hurt. And you wouldn't have an adult with you." his mother had said about a month ago.

"Oh, they'll be fine." his father had said, defending Ben. "Besides, the boy needs the new independence. He IS seventeen after all, Sandra."

Ben blinked at his parents. He would have to talk to them before he left, or at least give them a formal good-bye.

"About time you showed up." Kevin joked.

"Yeah." Ben muttered, giving his friends a smile. "So, who's left?"

"Just a few more, then we can take off." Gwen answered.

Ben walked over to his couch, sitting down on it with a grunt. He looked at his friends, seeing who was there.

Over the past year, Ben had made a few more friends. Some being aliens, and some being human friends he had just made at school.

Maya, a small, thin, half Mexican half black girl sat on the couch's arm. Her green and yellow cat-like eyes would dart back and forth every now and again. She seemed timid, but at heart, she was fun to be around and was very athletic. She had long legs for running and was very slim. Her straight, black hair hung loosely around her shoulders, but was tucked behind her ears. Her ears had small silver stud earrings on her lobes.

Ghetto, a fish-like alien hybrid was standing in the center on the living room. He was half alien-fish, and half human, but he mostly showed to be human. He had gills on the side of his neck, but he often wore a scarf of a turtle neck shirt. Even on a warm, spring day. His tan skin seemed to burn easily, so he always wore sun screen, even in the winter. His long, violet, spikey-like hair was known to always grow wildly as if it were a lion's mane, but he would shave it on a monthly basis, making it into a Mohawk. The front of his scruffy Mohawk reached down to the bridge of his nose. Ghetto's violet colored eyes were in a daze, as if he was thinking about something far off.

Ghetto now wore a black and white striped scarf, a white shirt, and some blue jeans. When he caught Ben looking at him, his gaze flickered back towards Ben, making Ben look away. Ghetto was strange. No one knew his real name, so everyone just called him Ghetto, a joke they made about his strange style, and the way he talked. Although he didn't talk in a 'ghetto' way, his voice did sound a bit odd. It was just the way his people on his planet spoke. He had been raised on his alien side of the family's planet, learning their language and culture, but he had wanted to be a Plumber, so he had left and learned how to speak English. Even though he could fluently speak their language, he still had that faint tone of voice that his people had, making his words sound slightly slurred.

Gunnar, a tall, well-built human teen was coming along, as well. He and Ben had become friends not too long ago. Gunnar had rough, sandy colored hair and sky blue eyes. Freckles covered his nose and under his eyes. He had many ear piercings, all of them being the color silver. His white teeth made his smile stand out, but also made Ben angry. That same smile was what made women love Gunnar, and what made Gunnar think it was 'okay' to hit on Ben's girlfriend, Julie.

Well, those were all the noobies.

Then, there were those that Ben had known for a while, or for as long as he could remember.

Besides Gwen and Kevin, there was Tack and Julie.

Tack was still his fun-loving self, but would be shy and around others, just like Maya. His jet black hair was pulled away from his face and his black and white eyes would shine with excitement. He had never been on 'spring vacation' before. Just going with Ben and Ben's other friends would be an experience enough.

Tack had made friends with some of the people in the room, though. In Plumber training, he had partnered up with Ghetto more than once and he had helped Maya study for her science tests a couple times. These people weren't strangers to him.

Julie walked over to Ben and sat next to him on the couch. Her long, dark hair was pulled back into pig-tails like it normally was. Her dark, brown eyes shone brightly at her boyfriend. "Are you excited?"

Ben grinned widely. "Yeah. Totally. I've been waiting FOREVER for this trip."

"I'm just as excited." Julie said, smiling.

Ben turned towards Kevin. "Who are we waiting on, again?"

"I think that Ester chick and the rat." Kevin muttered.

"WHAT?" Ben snarled. "We're bringing HIM?"

Kevin looked surprised. "Why not? Besides, he's been taking care of my dog for the past week, he might as well come since he's bring her over."

Julie slightly tilted her head. "Are you talking about Argit?"

"What about me?" a voice said.

In the open doorway stood a rat-like alien. An alien-like dog stood at his feet. A chain hung around her neck, but Argit wasn't holding it, seeing that she didn't like being walked by anyone else other than Kevin.

Seeing her master, the dog's eyes widened, and then barked as she ran forward, nearly knocking over Kevin as she pawed at him, still barking. Kevin just scratched at her neck, laughing.

Just as Argit walked into their house, Ester stretched from over the distance, seeming to come from nothing. She easily stretched into the living room, giving a small smile to Ben and winking, making Julie gave the newcomer a glare.

"So," Argit said, leaning up against a wall. "We ready to pack up, or what?"

* * *

Since Kevin's car was too small (and he didn't want to have a bunch of people messing around with it), everyone pitched in to rent an RV. It had taken some time, but everyone had had a couple months to save up. And with everyone going, it had only taken a few weeks for everyone to rustle up some money.

The RV wasn't very nice or high class, but it did have a bathroom and was big enough to fit everyone in. Sure, it was cramped and smelt like butts, but it had class. Maybe it shook and seemed as if it would break down at any moment, but that was all part of the 'experience'.

Naturally, Kevin drove, he being the only one who knew the way to 'the lake'. Ben didn't know what else to call the place, so he just kept referring it to such.

However, at some point during the ride, Ben had heard Argit say something. A leak.

"Yeah, I went up to the ridge last year. It was a dare. Scared the shit out of me, though." Argit said, his quills slightly standing on end.

"What do you mean? What dare?" Maya said, suddenly becoming frightened.

"Nothing." Gwen said quickly, side glancing Ben, but then pretending like she hadn't noticed him watching. "He means nothing."

The look Gwen gave Argit made him shut up about the subject, but it made Ben prickle. His stomach began to turn, making him suddenly feel sick inside. Ben saw Julie looking at him with concern, and Ester glancing at him from the corner of her eye, but Ben just looked out the side of the window, watching as they passed nothing. They were nowhere. There wasn't any towns, any forest, any grass, nothing. Just desert.

Yet, Ben knew that there was SOMETHING. There was something there, and it was following Ben. It was haunting him.

'Go away.' Ben thought bitterly, his stomach continuing to do flips. 'Leave me alone. Why won't you leave me alone?'

Although Ben couldn't see it, he knew that whatever was there, whatever was haunting him, was grinning a toothy grin, mocking him.

'I'm still here.' it seemed to whisper in Ben's ear. 'And I know EVERYTHING.'

* * *

_I'm going to be uploading the next chapter in a week. So, be prepared._

_((I OWN THIS FAN FICTION AND ALL THE IDEAS AND OCs I PUT INTO IT. THIS IS COPYRIGHT RED WOLF PRODUCTIONS))_


	2. What Was Left in Ashes

Chapter 2 – What Was Left in Ashes

Ben had stared out the window for a while after that. He had tried on thinking about something else, but he ended up just dazing off, such as he did when he was in class. His gaze was fixed on what seemed to be the moving terrain. He listened to what was happening around him.

Although Julie and Ester weren't the best of friends, they could start talking about something that was SOMEWHAT similar and would talk about it for what seemed to be an hour or two. Ben forgot what the conversation was about, but he didn't bother listening. It was about something girly, like shoes or dresses.

Gwen had moved to the front of the RV to sit in the passenger seat next to Kevin, talking to him about something, whispering. Kevin seemed confused, as if he wasn't sure what he was talking about. And although Ben couldn't see Argit, he knew that the little devil was a having a fit about whatever Gwen had made him hush about. So, he had gone to the front, too.

While those three whispered about something, Tack, Maya, Gunnar, and Ghetto all sat together, talking about the lake. Like Ben, none of them knew where they were going. It seemed as if the only people who knew where they were going were Argit, Gwen, and Kevin. This made Ben puzzled. Sure, they wanted him to be surprised, but why not tell the others? This made Ben all the more worried.

The voice continued to buzz in the back of his head.

'I'm still here. I haven't forgotten.'

Ben tried to tune this voice out, knowing it was just horrible, horrible past experiences coming back to haunt him, but he couldn't shake an uneasy feeling. Sure, he would often hear the blood chilling voice, but that was normally in his nightmares or whenever someone or something suddenly remained Ben of the tragic yet horrifying event.

No one knew. No one knew what happened. They thought they did, patting Ben on the back.

"I'm so sorry Ben." they would say. "I'm so sorry for your loss. I know what you're going through."

But they didn't. Only Ben had seen it.

Ben's eyes closed, as if something had commanded him to sleep.

'You're asleep.' the voice said. 'But I've just awakened.'

A major chill went down Ben's spine. 'No.' he thought. 'You're dead.'

* * *

Ben was awaken by a soft hand, shaking his shoulder. Ben's eyes snapped open. Julie was leaned in over the seat that Ben was sleeping in, smiling.

"Wakey, wakey." she chuckled.

Ben then sat up, stretching and yawning. "Where are we ... ?"

"We're almost there." Kevin answered, standing by the RV's door. "We have about twenty miles left. We're just fueling up now and then heading back on our way. Might as well get out and stretch now while you can."

Ben nodded, seeming to look through Kevin. Noticing his friend's strangeness, Kevin raised an eyebrow. "You feeling alright, Ben?"

Ben just gave a slight nod. "Yeah. Just tired, is all."

Kevin gave a skeptical look, but then just turned and walked out of the RV.

Ben turned his head to see that Julie was giving her boyfriend a worried expression.

"What?" Ben said, trying not to look her in the eye.

Julie sighed. "You just seem strange is all."

"Oh, yeah?" Ben chuckled. "How so?"

"Well," Julie said, looking out the RV's window. "You talk in your sleep."

Ben blinked in surprise. He hadn't remembered dreaming while he was sleeping. Sure, he sometimes talked in his sleep, but that was when he dreamt of something. He couldn't even remember having the smallest dream while he was sleeping. His sleep seemed to be deep and dark, as if he were buried miles deep into the ground.

Ben looked out the window, too. The sun was already beginning to set. The sunset in front of them was pinkish and somewhat orange.

Looking behind him, Ben saw that he and Julie were the only ones left in the RV. Everyone else must have been outside, breathing in air that didn't smell like farts and Cheetos.

Julie read Ben's mind. "Yeah. Everyone's getting as much fresh air as they can before we hit the road, again. We should, too."

Ben got out the side of the seat, nodding. Anything to get off of their subject, then Ben would do it. Julie still had a worried expression, but she followed Ben nevertheless.

Once Ben stepped out of the RV, he was hit with fresh, spring air. He was hoping to have PLENTY of that where they were going. Where they were wasn't a gas station. It was a resting stop. There were park benches off in the distance and lots and lots of grass everywhere. Kevin was off in the distance playing fetch with his dog while Gwen sat on a bench, watching.

Argit, Gunnar, and Ghetto were all huddled together talking about something. Argit would occasionally look over at Ben, but would look away once he saw Ben looking in their direction.

Maya, Tack, and Ester were slowly walking off into the more grassy area together, talking and laughing together.

Things seemed normal enough for Ben.

* * *

Ben hadn't noticed it before, since for the rest of the ride to the lake he had talked with his friends instead of looking out the window, but he knew that something was off. So, turning his head, he looked out the side of the window. Gwen had noticed him looking, taking in a sharp breath, as if she had been hoping he wouldn't have looked.

Ben's heart seemed to beat a million miles per minute. He didn't get it right away, but he recognized the place, but from where? He wasn't entirely sure. There were burnt trees lining all along the side of the road. Each was tall, towering over the RV, pitch black and completely burned. In the sunlight, they seemed to shine, but instead of shinning or glimmering, they seemed to be leaking, be crying their sorrow and pain.

Ben felt his hands begin to shake. He remembered now. That voice suddenly returned.

'Do you see my pain, now?'

Indeed, the trees looked as if they cried, snowing endless pain, which would never stop.

"Ben?" Gwen said softly.

"Where are we?" Ben said in almost a whisper.

Kevin turned out of seat with a slight grin. "Can we tell him now?"

Gwen seemed as if she had reason not to, but she sighed. "Sure."

Kevin looked back to the road. "You know that old place that they used to have for camping sites up here? You know, Wolfe Ridge?"

Ben seemed to suddenly stop breathing. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Gwen suddenly look over at him with a worried expression. Ben opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

Wolfe Ridge. He thought he'd never hear those words ever again.

"You know the place?" Argit asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ben tried to sit up straight and look Argit in the eye, but his vision seem to suddenly blur. "I've ... heard of it."

That was a fat lie. Ben had more than heard of it. He's experienced it.

Argit grinned, turning back to Maya and Ghetto. "Yeah, like I was saying, I went there when they closed it."

"Oh." Maya said, perking up. "That was what you were saying. I was confused."

"Why did they close it?" Tack asked, sitting next to Maya.

"No one knows." Argit shrugged. "Had something to do with this HUGE fire."

Everyone seemed to look out their windows. All the trees were burned, but as they got closer and closer to the ridge and it's waterfall, there was more lush follage and trees. Everything seemed to have grown back perfectly fine.

Maya seemed all the more confused. "Why didn't they just reopen it if it all grew back?"

Argit gave a sly grin. "Not sure, but there ARE theories."

"Theories?" Ester huffed.

"They say," Argit teased. "That the reason why they can't ever reopen Wolfe Ridge is because of an accident."

Ben began to prickle.

"No one knows how it happened, but they say that in the fire, someone took the advantage and killed as many people as they could." Argit said, in a low, creepy voice. "But, he got so into it, going crazy, that he didn't pay attention to the growing flames. He was burned alive."

Giving an annoyed grunt, Kevin rolled his eyes. "Bull."

"It could be true!" Argit cried out. "I heard it from a guy ..."

Gwen looked over nervously at Ben, but he was already staring out his window, his eyes in a daze. Gwen sighed. She seemed to be the only other person that knew, but yet she didn't.

All that Ben had ever told her was that Rook had died in a fire. Now a days, if Ben had to deal with any situation dealing with a fire, he would croak, or stutter, but yet would still get the job done. Gwen had hoped that this would be different. By the longing look in Ben's eyes, Gwen couldn't help but feeling guilty. Perhaps coming in the first place was a bad idea.

Ben knew that his cousin was staring at him, but yet he didn't care. She thought she knew, but yet she didn't. She hadn't been there. She didn't know the truth. Only Ben did. And harboring the secret was like knowing you had someone's murder on your conscience.

It wasn't the fire that Ben had felt sick about, it was EVERYTHING. It was the fire, the deaths, and most of all, Wolfe Ridge.

Coming back felt like facing your nightmares all over again.

* * *

_You get to see where this story is going._

_Yeah. I know I said this would be out in a week. That was two days ago. Deal with it. I'm horrible at telling when I'll post something. When I say I'll post something on a certain date, I'll either do it RIGHT on that date or earlier. Never later. I'm just weird like that._

_I might just post my other fan fiction early, too. MAYBE. Maybe ..._

_((I OWN THIS FAN FICTION AND ALL THE IDEAS AND OCs I PUT INTO IT. THIS IS COPYRIGHT RED WOLF PRODUCTIONS))_


	3. All Dogs go to Heaven

**WARNING: This chapter contains violence/gore.**

Chapter 3 – All Dogs go to Heaven

Argit burst out of the side of the RV, just about jumping out of his skin. Once he swung open the door, spring hair instantly filled the RV, letting everyone inside breathe.

"I swear." Kevin said, from the millionth time. "I wasn't me."

"Whatever." Ben mumbled. "Next time, just make sure you aren't inside a cramped space with the rest of us when you crack one off."

Everyone else seemed to chuckle and snicker.

Kevin looked like he wanted to say something defensively, but he just mumbled to himself, turning off the RV engine as everyone else filed off the RV.

Ben was still on edge, but he had allowed himself to loosen up, deciding that just because he was gloomy didn't mean that he had to ruin it for everyone else. Besides, who was he to be the party pooper? Sure, he had vowed to never return to Wolfe Ridge, but it was a little too late now. Plus, why think of all the down sides when he could think of all the positives? He was on spring break! Why not make the most of it?

However, Ben couldn't help but freezing at the sight of the lake. It was just as he had remembered it. The water was crystal clear and the sun seemed to reflect off it perfectly. No matter how deep it was, you could see all the way down. This was both enchanting, and frightening.

There was grass everywhere. For yards and yards, there was nothing but long, lush grass. Even after the fire, all of it had grown back. The grass all grew down to the edge of the end of the lake and the ridge.

The ridge rose higher than a two-story building. It's giant waterfall sprayed water all over the side of the lake. Ben could see trees lining over the side of the ridge. This made him shiver. He thought he could hear the sound of one creaking, falling over in a mess of flames, but once he heard a slam, he knew it was only Gwen slamming the RV door shut.

Kevin looked at the lake just below the ridge. Rocks lined all along the bottom, making the falling water spill all around the bottom. For a moment, Ben had wanted to climb those rocks, like a ten year old. He then remember that horrifying day.

A soft hand was placed on his shoulder. Ben turned around to see the Gwen was still looking worried.

"Are you going to be alright?" she asked softly.

Ben just gave a slight nod. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I?"

Opening her mouth to say something, Gwen was cut off as there was a splashing sound. Ben whirled around, his heart seeming to beat out of his chest. However, when he turned towards the bottom of the ridge, he saw that Kevin's dog had just dove right into the water.

Kevin gave a slight chuckle.

* * *

Everyone had set up camp at the top of the ridge. Ben had been hoping that they would set up camp at the bottom, seeing that the incident had happened at the top, but Kevin had insisted that they set up at the top of the ridge. That was where most of the lake was, where all the hills where, the forest, and just about everything. The only thing at the bottom of the ridge were rocks, rocks, and more rocks, along with the water fall.

Ben didn't mind, though, since they went pretty far back away from the ridge. They went back almost into the forest. Kevin took them right to the edge of the lake, on the border of the forest. By the time they had set up camp, the sun was down and everyone was completely tired. The boys got three tents and the girls got two.

Ben had shared a tent with Argit and Ghetto. Argit had seemed to fallen asleep instantly, snoring loudly, but Ghetto had taken his time falling asleep. However, after a while, Ghetto had fallen asleep nevertheless. As they slept, Ben seemed to have trouble sleeping. He couldn't help but having an uneasy feeling.

There was something out there. He just knew it. Perhaps it was just Ben being paranoid, but he knew that whatever it was, something was bugging him. All Ben could do was pull his sleeping bag over his head and burry his head in his pillow, trying to fall asleep.

At some point, Ben had fallen asleep to the sound of the wind humming a silent tone and rustling the grass. At least he hoped it was the wind.

* * *

When Ben awake the next morning, he was met by fresh, sharp morning air and the sounds of chirping birds. Slowly sitting up, Ben gave a small yawn. Taking a quick look in the tent, he saw that Argit and Ghetto had already woken up and left the tent.

Taking in a quick sniff, Ben's mouth watered. He smelt bacon and eggs.

Getting out of his sleeping bag, Ben grabbed some clothes and quickly got dressed, wanting to get warm after leaving his warm sleeping bag. Ben put on some jeans, a shirt, and a hoodie. His hair was ruffled, but he just ran his fingers through his hair, not really caring.

Ben left the tent and saw the brightly lit lake. By the rocky shore were his friends, all huddled around a fire. While Kevin poked the fire with a stick, everyone else seemed to be talking and laughing.

As Ben walked closer, he noticed that everyone was there.

Argit laughed cruelly at Gunnar. "Ha! You're so gay."

Gunnar gave a fake laugh. "Yeah, right. I'm as straight as the pole your mom dances on."

Argit's ears flattened in irritation. "Ha, ha. SO funny."

Maya glanced at Tack, both giving small giggles.

Gwen was the first to see Ben coming. She was sitting next to Kevin, giving a wide grin. "It's about time you woke up."

Ben gave his cousin a grin. "Yeah."

Kevin threw his poking stick into the fire, sighing. "It's about time. I was about to feed your share to the dog."

"Where is that mutt, anyway?" Ester peeped.

Kevin shook his head. "How should I know? Probably off somewhere eating a rat."

Ghetto, who was sitting near by, shrunk back. "How do you figure that?"

"Cause she did it once." Gwen mumbled. "And then threw it up on my chemistry homework."

Kevin gave a small chuckle. "That's the thing about old Girl, she can eat anything, but she just can't seem to keep it down."

Since Kevin was too stubborn to actually name his alien-dog he got about a year ago, he would just call her Girl. Gwen and others had became annoyed with this, seeing that he had had more than enough time to name his dog, but no one really cared anymore. Everyone was so used to calling her Girl that no one even noticed that it wasn't a proper name.

Ben chuckled, taking a seat next to Gwen and Julie. Ben gave his girlfriend a warm smile, letting his smile tell her good morning.

* * *

That night that Girl had left, she had felt that strange feeling, as if someone was watching her, and the rest of them. Whatever was out there, it had been watching her master and his friends sleeping. It's beady eyes were pinned on them as if they were prey. Girl had feared that they WERE prey.

So, that night, she had tried warning her master. She had tugged at his sleeves, barked as he started setting up the tents, but he was too distracted by his friends to notice anything. This irritated Girl greatly. How could he not see what she did? How could he not see the shadows that casted over the group where ever they went or feel someone breathing down the back of their necks as they walked down trails? Girl had felt all of this. Yet, none of the others had.

Whatever was out there was as sneaky as a fox, yet as mysterious as a panther. Girl had been on Earth long enough to learn about all of Earth's creatures, but never once had she been this confused. What was stalking them? She didn't know, but she didn't want to figure out. All she wanted to figure out was what it wanted. Did it want them as it's prey, or was it after something else?

Something ELSE had bothered Girl, though. It was something that had happened late at night.

When Girl had thought that the creature had left, she had scratched on the tent for Kevin to let her out. Once Kevin had reluctantly let her out, Girl had left to make dirt. However, after she had done her business, she had heard ... strange noises.

There was heavy breathing, as if someone that had been a smoker had been breathing down her neck. Her heart beating a mile per minute, Girl had whirled around, her fur standing on end. Yet, nothing was there. Yet, something WAS.

After the heavy breathing, there was what seemed to be muttering and whispering, as if who or whatever was bothering Girl was wounded, or slowly dying. Perhaps it was. Maybe it was a creature that was suffering. Then again, whatever it was made Girl's fur stand on end.

Girl had slowly walked back towards her master's tent, but that was when she saw 'it'. In a quick flash, a long, dark shadow passed over Girl. Well, it didn't really pass 'over' Girl, it seemed to almost pass THROUGH her. As it did so, more than her fur stood on end. Her joints seemed to buckle down and her bones froze.

Before her senses kicked in and she turned tail running, she saw a quick flash of silver. A silver blade. Although Girl was swift as could be, she wasn't quick enough as something sharp cut into her shoulder. She had released a shrill cry at this, but continued to run.

Sprinting through the forest, Girl knew that whatever had been watching her was now following her. As if to mock her, it had at first followed her at a walking pace, yet kept up with Girl. How could this be? Girl didn't know, but she just kept running. Her tongue had flopped out the side of her mouth as she panted. That noise came again, that sound of someone breathing down her neck.

That was when her hunter had began to follow her at a full out run. Girl could hear her own paw steps along with her follower's footsteps. Her heart pounded in her chest, as if it would explode. Never before had she been this frightened. It seemed as if just being around this being was like knowing she was going to die.

The moon had been so bright that night. If Girl had just glanced back for a second, she could see who or what was following her. She would be able to see perfectly. That was her mistake. She had made the mistake of thinking that her follower was yards behind her, since the breathing had stopped and the footsteps had seemed so far away. So, she had glanced back.

SLASH!

The tall, slender figure had launched itself forward, holding what looked to be a blade-like weapon in the air, bringing it down swiftly. What was soon seen to be a clever narrowly missed Girl's head, but skimmed the side of her face, making her cry out in pain as she lost her footing and fell to the ground.

The figure that had thrown the clever had started breathing heavily again, but then did something else. It had ... chuckled. It had then seemed human, but yet wasn't. There was hardly anything human about this creature. If anything, this was a monster.

"Poor, puppy." it had said in a deep, cruel voice.

Girl had then guessed that whatever this thing was, it was male.

Girl's vision then began to blur. Blood poured from where she had been cut, spilling into her eyes, making her vision nothing but blurs and blood. However, she was able to see the man walk forward in front of her, where the clever must have landed. He bent over and picked it up with his long arms.

Although Girl's vision was messed up, she was able to see that the creature was wearing normal human clothes, but his skin color was MUCH different. Unlike Earth dogs, Girl was able to see in colors. This creature's skin wasn't a tan or pale color like human's, it was almost a blue color, or a violet.

Girl was only able to hear her blood rushing to her head and her heart beating a million miles per minute. The moonlight lit up the clearing perfectly, but the noises of the forest seemed to vanish, as if sensing the murder about to come.

When the man grabbed the clever and turned back around, Girl released a frightened cry. His face ...

"Yeah." he said with a toothy grin. "I wasn't always such an ugly kitty."

Girl seemed to shake, convulsing at the sight of his half-burnt face.

"You must be hurting." the cat-like man said, his one yellow eye blaring at Girl. "How about I take the pain away?"

Raising the blood-stained clever into the air, the monster brought it down on Girl's skull, instantly cracking it open, killing her. Blood oozed everywhere. The impact from the blade had made blood spray up the killer's arm and onto the white patch on his face. A small droplet hit his lip. Giving another toothy grin, he licked at the blood.

Once he pulled his weapon out of the mutt's head, he look one last look at the mess he had made. There wasn't as much blood as he had expected, or had wanted, but he had been too close to the camping site to make much of a scene.

He gave a wicked grin. 'Wouldn't it be a nice morning surprise if they found their puppy taking a blood bath in the lake?' he thought to himself.

But no. He hadn't wanted to do that. Not yet. He had simply just wanted to kill the mutt not only for pleasure, but for a future advantage. Even if the mutt was dead, he could use it.

Looking down at the dog, he gave a cruel chuckle. Bending over, he picked up the dog, making sure that he cradled the head, so that the brains or blood wouldn't drip. After all, he didn't want to leave a trail. He would have to come back later anyway to kick up dirt in the blood that dripped off onto the ground.

So, the killer had walked away with his prey. As he did so, he could only think of who the next mutt would be. How would he kill them? Would he use something other then a clever? Would he toy with their minds before delivering the final blow?

Oh, the possibilities.

* * *

_Hooray for the first kill!_

_((I OWN THIS FAN FICTION AND ALL THE IDEAS AND OCs I PUT INTO IT. THIS IS COPYRIGHT RED WOLF PRODUCTIONS))_


	4. The Flames of Revenge

Chapter 4 – The Flames of Revenge

"Just jump, dude!" Kevin yelled from the bottom of the boulders, floating in clear, clean water.

Ben was the last one on top of the rocks. Everyone else had jumped off the tops or swung off the rope that hung from a branch. Ben looked down at the bottom. Everyone looked up at him, encouraging him to jump down. Taking in a deep breath, Ben look a step back, and then leapt forward.

He free fell for a few seconds, giving him a temporary high, but then he was met by a splash of freezing water. However, the coldness had only lasted a few seconds. Once he was under, he recovered from the shock and swam to the surface.

Once he came above, everyone seemed to laugh with happiness.

Ben scanned the area, but then noticed something strange.

"Where's Ghetto?" Ben asked.

Gwen flopped back a lock of wet hair. "I saw him dive under a few moments ago."

"Who knows how long fish-boy will be under." Argit huffed.

Ben looked below the clear surface, but yet saw nothing.

* * *

Ghetto had been curious. He always had been when around water. He was in his element, after all. The water seemed to just be like a second home to Ghetto. It hugged him tighter and tighter the deeper down he went.

Ghetto was able to breathe under water like a normal fish could, but unlike normal fish, he could also breathe on land. The gills on the side of his neck sucked in the salty water and blew it back out, letting Ghetto suck in the oxygen.

Ghetto hadn't been planning on swimming all the way down to the bottom of the lake, but he had. And, to his amazement, there was much more to be seen. Sharp, crystal-like rocks grew out of the bottom of the lake, making Ghetto think that there might be caverns below. Deciding to take a closer look, Ghetto swam closer do the middle of the lake.

The water was so clear that Ghetto could see anything that crossed his path, including any new kinds of colorful fish or any plants growing between the cracks of the rocks. As Ghetto swam deeper and deeper down, there was more plantation growth, mostly sea weed or sponge beds. Once, when Ghetto was curious, he had poked one of the beds, making tiny mite-like creatures spill out.

Ghetto grinned. He liked this lake. This was MUCH better then the pond outside his home. The pond he swam in was full of mud and had nasty fish inside that would nip and bite at Ghetto. Recently, someone had spilled some oil into the pond without Ghetto knowing. Without anywhere to swim away or anyway to see through all the darkness, Ghetto had thought that he would've died. He was considered lucky. It was a small price to pay for his kind's 'needs' for the water.

However, something seemed strange, even off, to Ghetto. As he swam deeper down the lake, the plants grew higher and thicker, making it hard for Ghetto to know where he was going or to see what was happening.

Deciding that it was best to turn back, Ghetto began to turn around, heading back the way he came, but then something caught his ankle. Ghetto panicked. It wasn't sea weed. It didn't tangle or feel slimy. The touch was firm and held on tight, like fingers were digging into his skin.

Ghetto quickly spun around, but whatever had grabbed him had let go and vanished into the sea weed. Becoming frightened, Ghetto turned towards the surface, although he knew he was too far below the surface to come above so quickly.

Suddenly, a dark shadow passed over Ghetto, making his bones chill. He forgot to breathe in deeply, making water run down his throat. Without breathing in properly, Ghetto would've been easily able to choke on water and drown.

Panicking, in one swift motion, Ghetto pumped his fin-like arms and legs forward, making him get a quick swimming start. But that was when he saw it. It looked like fire. Horrible, terrible fire. Ghetto couldn't believe it. He was in water. He must have been so frightened that he imagined it, but Ghetto couldn't ignore what he saw.

Below him, the rocks seemed to almost turn to mud. The mud turned to red, scorching fire. Ghetto meant to let out a cry of great fright, but instead let out all the air he had been holding in. Ghetto had willed himself to look away and keep swimming, but he seemed to be unable to look away from what he saw. He saw ... faces.

They were trapped. They were trapped in the flames. Their faces looked liked they were coming straight from the flames of hell itself, their eyes hollow and lifeless. Then, mud-like arms streched out, begging for help.

Ghetto's heart beated a million miles per minute. Tearing his gaze away, he made a rapid swim upward, not daring to look back at the scene below him. However, as Ghetto swam with all his might, he could hear them. He could hear their cries for help. He tried to block them out, but he couldn't. Their moans of pain and agony couldn't be ignored.

Ghetto wanted to believe that it was his imagination, but he couldn't.

Through all the moans and cries, Ghetto couldn't tell one word from another, but only one could be told as it was repeated over and over.

'Revenge.'

'Revenge.'

'Revenge.'

Before Ghetto knew it, he had hit the surface. As soon as he had hit the surface, the sound of moans, cries, and growing flames vanished, but he could never forget the one word as it repeated in his mind.

Ghetto seemed to shake in shock, not realizing that Ben was watching him.

Ben stared at Ghetto, wide eyed.

Kevin was a little ways away, but everyone else had seen Ghetto surface, too.

"Geez." Kevin smirked. "Looks like you've seen a ghost."

However, Ben couldn't help but continuing to stare at Ghetto. As Ghetto remained silent, staring at his own reflection in the water, everyone else couldn't help but becoming worried.

"Ghetto?" Gunnar mused, tilting his head. "You alright, bro?"

However, Ghetto didn't answer. Swimming quick, Ghetto reached the shore and stalked off to the shadows, as if the water he had just been in was poison.

* * *

_What is a good horror story without a little revenge? You'll get to see what the revenge is a little more in the later chapters, if you haven't got an idea of what it is already, anyway._

_((I OWN THIS FAN FICTION AND ALL THE IDEAS AND OCs I PUT INTO IT. THIS IS COPYRIGHT RED WOLF PRODUCTIONS))_


	5. Caves Are For Bats

**WARNING: This chapter contains violence/gore and strong language. **

Chapter 5 – Caves Are For Bats

Ghetto didn't go back in the lake after that. It seemed as if whenever he even looked at the water a vision of blood and suffering flashed through his mind. Ghetto didn't know if it was just him going insane or if it was something more. Whatever it was, something was wrong. Really wrong.

Ben and the others gave great concern for Ghetto, but Ghetto was known for being able to hide his emotions. So, he hid them from the others for the rest of that day. He wasn't about to tell anyone what he had seen, just because of the fact that they would think he was plain out crazy.

Perhaps he WAS just crazy ...

"Hey, Ghetto!" Gunnar yelled, catching his friend's attention. "Hurry up! We're leaving in like ten minutes!"

Ghetto snapped out of his daze, nodding. "I'm coming."

They were leaving to go more down the lake, where they were looking to just fool around some. Ben seemed to be loosening up some more. He was a little worried for Ghetto, but not to the point where he would return to his worried self.

Once everyone had thrown on some clothes, they had all gathered together and began walking down the stream.

Tack and Maya hung back in the group, talking together about something. The rest of the group was further up, talking and laughing together about random and out of play stuff. Ghetto seemed quiet, but he would get into the conversation every now and again.

The sun shone brightly over the lake, making the day look absolutely perfect. Ghetto seemed to be irritated by the sunlight, but he could hold out just long enough before they got to some shade. Ghetto wasn't exactly the 'sunlight' type of guy.

Argit stared up beyond the ridge, which seemed to be half a mile where they were. "I wonder if there are others up there."

Kevin snorted. "I don't think so. It is a long ass walk and why go up there when all the lake is down here? I'm sure you'll see more wolves up there then people."

Argit shrugged his shoulders. "Just a thought."

Now that Ben thought about it, he wondered if there were others up there, too, but Kevin DID have a point. Why go up there when all the lake was down by the ridge? Ben would rather be down by the ridge where all the swimming and fun stuff was rather than up in the woods with some wolves.

However, there was a voice in the back of Ben's head, making him want to go up into those woods. It seemed almost tempting, yet dangerous.

Kevin, on the other hand, wanted to perhaps explore the woods in search of Girl. She had been gone the whole day and night and Kevin was beginning to worry. She had never been gone for this long. Kevin would whistle for her, but she wouldn't come. Perhaps she was somewhere up in the woods, messing around with some wolves.

Ghetto could care less where they went. He just didn't want to return to the lake, even if every molecule in his fish-like body screamed for water. Perhaps he would find a stream later.

It was around ten minutes later of hiking that they got to a point that they thought they could rest. There was plenty of shade and trees and some shallow water. Ghetto stayed clear of the water, but he did relax in some shade.

* * *

Hours passed.

Ghetto remained in the shade, but he would occasionally talk with Gunnar or Tack. Others would roll up their pant legs and wade in the water, splashing each other and just having a good time. Ben had once gotten close enough to splash water towards Ghetto, cooling him off.

It was later, though, that things turned for the worse.

Sundown came soon, the sky turning into shades of pink and orange. Maya had been sitting in the shade, not too far away from Ghetto, when she started staring off into the woods about a half mile off. Only, she wasn't the only one that heard the scream.

Off in the woods, a blood-chilling scream echoed through the trees and could be heard for miles after miles. Everyone stopped and froze in terror. The scream sounded like a woman's.

Everyone looked at each other, uneasy, as if something horrifying had just happened. Kevin was the first to speak.

"What the hell was THAT?" he whispered, as if someone was in the bushes, listening to every word they said.

Ben shuttered a breath. "It came from up in the woods."

Argit began to fidget. "I KNEW there were people up there."

No one knew what to say, or do. Everyone just kept looking at each other, as if their friends had the answers on what they would do. Suddenly, a cloud casted over the sky.

Ghetto was hit with a drop. This time, it wasn't a splash of water from Ben. Once Ghetto looked up, so had everyone else. The sky quickly turned from a beautiful sunset to a dark, ugly grey. Rain clouds quickly formed.

Great.

Ghetto and Maya both stood up.

"We should head back to camp." Maya said quickly, even though she would normally be the one to keep quiet, not wanting to give suggestions.

Everyone nodded.

"Yeah. Just what I was thinking." Gunnar said, liking the idea.

"Let's hurry, then." Kevin mumbled, already moving down the hill.

* * *

Well, they couldn't go back to camp. Something terrible had happened while they were gone. No one knew how, or when, but the ridge had flooded, blocking their way back and most likely their camping site.

There was no way to get back to their camping site, and the only way to keep dry was to take cover.

"Quick." Kevin said. "Let's move back up and take cover under the thicker trees."

"You want to move TOWARD the bloody screams?" Argit hissed.

"I don't think we have much a choice." Gwen said forcefully. "If we stay here while it rains, the lake will just flood more, and we'll all get caught in it. Plus, the only trees that'll keep us dry are higher up the ridge."

Everyone looked at each other skeptically, but nodded nevertheless. Ben suddenly felt sick to his stomach, again.

* * *

Tears streamed down the teenage girl's face. The rain fell down hard, now. But she was sobbing, and on her knees, begging. Her hands were intertwined together as she looked up at the tall, slender man who was now covered in blood.

"Please ..." she sobbed. "Please!"

All the girl could remember was hearing her sister's blood-chilling cry, running back to the camping site, and seeing the horrifying mess.

When the teenager and her older sister came to Wolfe Ridge, they had been looking to camp higher up, where it had been rumored to have small, warm caves. And, to their great delight, there had been caves. But, there had also been something dangerous lurking inside them.

The man in front of her wore a mask. It was blood stained, both with old, dry blood and with the blood of her sister. Lowering it's machete, the girl thought she was going to live. She continued to cry, though.

"Run." was all it said.

Without hesitating, the girl scrambled to her feet, almost slipping in mud, and ran down a long hill. She didn't know where she was going, but she didn't care. She just needed to get away. Get FAR away.

That was when it happened. She heard heavily, unnatural breathing behind her, but she didn't dare look back. However, without being able to see through the dark rain, she easily tripped over a tree root. She rolled over, opened her mouth to release a blood-chilling scream, but was too late as she saw the face of the devil himself.

* * *

The group made their way higher up the ridge, not stopping even though the rain continued to pour down. Once they made it to thicker cover, they stopped and decided on sleeping there. Julie, Gwen, Maya, and Argit were all terrified of sleeping on the ground for he night, so Ben made a plan.

Turning to Bigchill, Ben picked up each person one by one, except Argit, Kevin, and Ester, who all seemed to get up the tree on their own. In order to not fall out of the tree, Ester wrapped everyone around the tree, using her stretchable limbs.

Everyone, wrapped up in a limb and sitting on a branch, fell asleep to the sound of rain and thunder. Many thought they heard footsteps crunching below, but all were too paranoid to even look, yet they all managed to fall into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

_There is going to be a pretty high scale of blood and gore in the next chapter. So be prepared._

((I OWN THIS FAN FICTION AND ALL THE IDEAS AND OCs I PUT INTO IT. THIS IS COPYRIGHT RED WOLF PRODUCTIONS))


	6. A Nasty Surprise

**WARNING: This chapter contains strong language and violence/gore.**

Chapter 6 – A Nasty Surprise

When everyone awoke, the sky was clouded and the air was wet. The day was starting off miserable enough, but to top things off, everyone woke up cramped from sleeping in the tree and were beyond freezing.

Once everyone had awoke, Ester unwrapped her limbs from everyone and stretched around the tree, trying to allow herself and everyone else down. Kevin was the first to touch the ground. He was also the first to notice that the ground was soaked with water. The flood had only begun.

"Shit." Kevin muttered.

Everyone else had landed on the ground, noticing the flooded ground, as well. The fact that everyone was freezing cold didn't help.

Ben took off his hoodie and handed it to Julie, who took the offered hoodie and placed it over her head. Ben crossed his arms and looked down at the water, as if it were something else, or as if there was something inside the water that no one else could see.

Ben would often do this. No one knew why. It had started a while back. Perhaps a little while after Rook had died. Ben would seem to stare off into space more than normal and would be off in his own little world. People had worried about this, but others found it better to not question Ben's motives.

"Well?" Gunnar said, breaking the silence. "What are we going to do?"

Ben looked up from whatever he had been looking towards, seeming to seriously be considering what to do next. "We can move higher up the ridge."

"Can?" Maya whispered.

"Or should?" Tack added.

"Should." Gwen answered. "Unless you want to go swimming with a bunch of trees and bark."

Argit huffed. "Sure. Lets just go before we get any more wet."

As the group walked through the wet earth, Ester looked up at the sky. "Do you think it's going to rain, again?"

Gwen sighed. "Maybe. We'll just have to wait and see."

"What are we going to do when we get higher up the ridge?" Ghetto asked.

No one answered.

* * *

"Ben, what are those?" Ghetto asked.

Ben looked up at the sky, where Ghetto had been looking towards. The sky had turned from a dark and ugly grey into a lighter grey, something that made it all the more harder to see into the sky, making the lighting horrible. However, Ben saw what Ghetto had been pointing at. There where what looked to be birds circling up in the sky. Looking more closely, Ben saw that they were crows. What were crows doing around here? Ben thought about this for a while, and his stomach began to do flips.

There were lots of these birds. Many of them began to dive down towards the ground that wasn't too far away from where the group was. Normally, there wouldn't be so many crows in one place unless there was some sort of waste, such as garbage, or something had died.

Argit, who had been slacking and was now tailing behind the group, stopped in his tracks. His nose raised in the air as he took in deep sniffs. The rest of the group stopped, turning to look at Argit with confusion.

Argit twitched his rat-like ears and would turn his head in all different directions, still sniffing the air.

"What the hell are you doing?" Kevin sighed.

Argit looked back at the group. "I smell something ... familiar."

"Familiar?" Gunnar mused.

Argit gave a grunt before turning his nose back in the air, trying to decide what the smell was. Once he thought he knew what the smell was, Argit looked back at the group with mixed emotions. Ben's heart seemed to beat a million miles per minute once he recognized the look of horror on Argit's face, along with the slightest bit of confusion and curiosity.

Argit got down on all fours as he took a brief sniff of the air before bringing his nose to the ground, moving on all fours higher up the ridge. The group shot each other strange glances, but followed Argit nevertheless.

Argit moved through brush and other foliage, but kept his nose to the ground and slightly to the air, following an unknown scent. His mind seemed to be some place else, as if he knew what he was following, but he had to find it, just to be sure.

After a while of following Argit, the trees seemed to disappear. The ground was no longer wet, but there was hardly any grass or dirt left. Mainly there was just stone. Everyone was careful to not slip, or stumble on the stone.

Argit's fingers and toes clicked on the stone as he continued to stalk forward, sniffing. His expression grew more timid as he seemed to get closer to the scent. However, just when he had picked up his pace, he suddenly stopped, his quills stiffening and standing on end.

Argit slowly raised his head and looked forward, still on all fours.

Everyone else followed Argit's gaze. All was silent. Ben seemed to shake from the sight.

Argit drew his lips back in a snarl or hiss. "Blood."

There was a shrub a few feet in front of Argit and the rest of the group. The shrub was stripped bare, as if despite all the rain, there hadn't been enough for it to live. Dripping from the shrub's dead arms was scarlet blood. It continued to drip from the branches, as if it were still fresh. Some of the blood ran down from the stone it landed on and ran down towards Argit's hands. When some of the blood almost touched one of his hands, Argit gave a high pitched hiss and drew back, nearly bumping into Ghetto.

Argit's nose crinkled. "It's fresh. Really fresh."

Ben tore his gaze away from the blood that dripped from the shrub. Although the others couldn't hear anything, Ben could hear the dripping.

Drip... Drip... Drip...

The blood just kept dripping form the shrub and continued to roll down the stone ground. That was when he noticed something. It wasn't just the shrub that was burned and dead. It was just about everything else. The trees that were surrounding them were tall and skinny, but were burned and pitch black. The stone ground that they stood on seemed to have scorch marks everywhere.

Ben's heart thumped even harder inside his chest. He could see it now. Flames. They were everywhere. There were the screams of the innocent lives were burned down into ground. Suddenly, there was a new sound. The sound of rushing water...

"Ben?"

Gwen's voice snapped Ben back into focus. The screams and flames vanished.

Ben saw that the group had already begun to walk forward, seeming to go up further the ridge. Ben have his cousin have a slightly glance before following everyone else. That was when Ben saw that they were following a trail. A blood trail.

It was as if whatever had spilled blood all over the shrub had made the trail continue further up the ridge, making a trail follow after it. Something wasn't right, though. Ben's stomach continued to do flips.

However, Ben trailed behind the group, following them nevertheless.

Once they got higher up the ridge, Gwen began to shift around. "I think there may be caves up here."

Kevin gave her an uneasy glance. "What makes you think that?"

"I don't know." Gwen shrugged. "There are caves around ridges all the time. Considering that there is stone terrain all around here, then it might be likely that there are caves."

Argit twitched his ears. "The scent is strongest up ahead."

Ben swallowed hard.

Strange enough, there was thick brush up ahead, as if that was the only part that hadn't been burnt. Kevin was in the front, turning towards the group before pushing his way through the brush. As he made his way through the thick foliage, he felt the others following closely behind him. Kevin finally pushed his way fully out of the foliage; however, Kevin had turned towards his friends before really looking at what was in the clearing, just to make sure that his friends had followed him.

However, Kevin noticed something. Their expression were of pure horror. Confused, Kevin turned towards what they were looking at, but then released a small screech of horror and flew backwards, trying to get away from the face that was nose-to-nose with him.

Kevin stumbled back and fell into the arms of Ghetto and Gunnar, who helped him stabilize and stand back up. Kevin never tore his gaze away from the eyes of his beloved dog, Girl.

Gwen looked as if she was going to throw up.

Ben seemed to shake from the horrible sight.

Maya swayed to the side, but Tack easily caught her, but had to look away himself.

Girl's decapitated head was mounted on a thick stick which was stuck into the cracks of the stone ground. Strange colored blood had ran down the side of the stick, but was dry. This blood wasn't the same as the blood from the trail, though. It was a different color, and wasn't as fresh.

Girl's eyes were still open, and still had their terrified expression. Dried blood had spilled out the side of Girl's mouth and nose. Split down the middle of her head was a deep, gushed cut. It looked as if there had once been pouring blood from this wound, but Girl must have been killed days ago. The wound was now a dark red and black. Loosen brains on the inside had hardened and turned black, as well. Most of the insides must have spilled out, though.

"Who ..." Kevin stammered, his voice shaking. "Who could've done this ...?"

Julie released a silent scream.

Up ahead, in the rocky clearing, was a blood bath. The scorched ground had been replaced by blood stained rocks. There was both fresh blood and old blood. Girl's body laid not too far away from the stick. Her whole underside had been ripped open, spilling intestines and organs all around the rocks. There were finger and hand prints in the blood, as if someone had been pushing the insides around by hand, toying around with the body just to purposefully make a mess.

However, this wasn't what had made Julie cry out with fright.

Futher away from Girl's torn body was another body, but this one was human. This one, however, had been killed differently. Just as Gwen had thought, there were caves up the side of the ridge. Caves lined all along the clearing. Outside one of these caves was another dead tree. Hanging from the tree's branch was a climbing rope. On the other end of the rope limpy hung the body of a young woman. Her neck was bright red, where she had been hung. However, it looked as though she hadn't died from being hung by the rope. There were bright red marks around her neck, showing where fingers had grasped around her throat and suffocated her.

Whoever had killed the woman had dragged her body through Girl's blood, covering the woman in Girl's blood and making a trail to the side of the cave and tree, along with tieing a rope around the woman's neck and swinging it over the tree's dead branch.

Just like Girl, the woman's underside had been ripped open, most likely after she had been hung. Intestines spilled out and wrapped around her feet.

Ben's vision began to blur. No. This wasn't real. This couldn't be real. This was all just a bad dream.

However, that had been when Ben saw that next thing. Writing. There was writing. Whoever had killed Girl and the young woman had also written something inside one of the caves.

Julie leaned against Ben, as if she was trying not to pass out. "Let's just ... just GO."

Ben wanted to leave, too. He wanted to leave and never come back to Wolfe Ridge, but he needed to know. Something inside him began to whisper, again.

'Look.' it whispered. 'Look at what I have left for you.'

Ben gave Julie an uneasy glance, but then turned to Kevin, who gave him a slight nod.

Crows began to land in the clearing, pecking at Girl's body and making tracks by walking in the mixture of alien-dog and human blood.

Ben took some brave steps forward, making sure to not step in any blood and keep well away from the bodies. As Ben neared the cave, he could smell the horrible stench of blood, as if something was rotting. Ben's stomach continued to do flips, and he thought he was going to throw up.

Coming closer to the mouth of the cave, Ben saw the writing. Ben could hear Kevin comforting Gwen, and Ben knew that none of the others would follow him. Ben trusted that Kevin would lead the others away from the scene. But Ben had to know. Something inside he kept telling him to look.

Finally, Ben saw the words written in human blood. His breath caught in his throat and he thought he was about to sway back, feeling light headed.

I'M STILL HERE BEN. YOU BETTER TELL THE TRUTH.

Ben felt something crunch under his foot. He was almost too afraid to look, but Ben did. Looking down towards the ground, Ben thought he saw something round, green and black. Ben was confused at first, but he slowly bent over with shaking hands and picked it up.

Ben dropped the object once he realized what it was.

Ben could hear Julie crying and knew it was time to go. Still shaking, Ben bent over and picked up the old Plumber's badge. A huge crack was split down the middle. Ben doubted that he had done that just by stepping on it.

Ben knew, though. He knew how it had been cracked. He remembered the face of the insane Plumber who had slammed his badge into the ground, screaming that he would run the Plumbers into the ground.

Ben remembered. He remembered it all. He remembered the face of the insane Plumber, of his ambitious partner, Rook Blonko.

* * *

_Since it doesn't say it at any point in the story, the other girl that was killed got thrown in the lake. Why? You'll find out later._

_I shouldn't even be saying this, but I MIGHT be making another Rook horror story in the near future. Why? Well, just yesterday I was thinking about how this story would be like if I had gone in the other direction. This story was originally going to have a completely different plot line and just be a different story basically, but I guess I ended up making it this way. Then I got to thinking what it would be like if I HAD done the story the other way. And now that I think about it, the story would've been BAD ASS. So, I may or may not be making another one._

_If I do end up making the story, then it would be when this one is finished._

_((I OWN THIS FAN FICTION AND ALL THE IDEAS AND OCs I PUT INTO IT. THIS IS COPYRIGHT RED WOLF PRODUCTIONS))_


	7. Predators and Prey

**WARNING: This chapter contains strong language.**

Chapter 7 – Predators and Prey

Everyone kept together in a tight group. No one would separate and no one would stray away. It had begun raining again, but this time around it wasn't pouring down on them. The rain was more mild and was just lightly sprinkling on them.

The group moved quickly. Not at a run, though, just in case someone would slip and fall, then they would all have to stop and pick up that one person, wasting time. So, they all just walked at a fast pace. Where were they going? They were walking somewhat down the edge of the ridge, where Gwen thought that there would be a Ranger's Station. From there, they could report the incident and get a ride back to Bellwood.

The plan seemed easy enough, but with the rain increasing by the second, the fact that the Ranger's Station might not even be there, and that there was a killer stalking them somewhere in the woods, everyone had to keep on their toes.

There was no plan B. So, this was their best bet.

Julie had cried once when they left the horrifying scene, but she had tried to keep strong after that. As they all walked together as a group, Ben would hold her hand tightly in his, letting her know that he was still there.

Everyone else had been on the edge, as well, but no one could compare to Ben. No one knew. Kevin had asked Ben what the writing had been, but Ben had told a white lie.

"It said to beware." Ben had lied.

No one else talked after that, just walked swiftly through the light rain. Ben had put the old Plumber badge in his pocket, not wanting to show anyone, but not wanting to abandon it, either. A part of Ben had wanted to chuck the badge into the forest, screaming at the top of his lungs and screaming for Rook to leave him alone, for REAL this time, but Ben knew better. Another part of him was telling him to hold onto this small piece of his old partner, even if it also meant holding onto the past.

Ben's free hand would often fall into his pocket, feeling around the broken badge. Whenever Ben touched it, he thought he could feel the scorching flames beaming down on his skin and could hear the melting screams coming from the fires. Through all the screams, Ben could hear his partner's chuckles and the rushing water from the bottom of the ridge.

Ben could never forget this. No matter how hard he tried.

Whenever there was so much as a crunch of a twig in the distance or a slight breeze, everyone would hold their breath and look towards where the noise seemed to come from, but then would rush back into the direction they were headed.

What frightened Ben even more though was the fact that no matter where they went, they couldn't escape the sound of rushing water. That horrifying sound of water made Ben's heart beat even faster then it already was. However, something seemed even more off to Ben. Looking over to his side, he saw that Ghetto was even more on edge then everyone else.

Sure, everyone was panicking for their lives, but Ghetto was normally calm under pressure. After all, he was a Plumber. He was trained to be calm under pressure. However, in this case, he seemed to be on edge. He would twitch and his gaze would dart off into the shadows of the lake every chance he got. This seemed more than strange to Ben.

Ben was frightened of the lake for his own reasons, but he had had still enough courage to enter the lake and swim in it. Ghetto did, too. Well, that was until he mysteriously popped out from under the lake and rushed out of the water as if he had seen a ghost. Ghetto hadn't gone back into the lake after that.

Ben's heart continued to race. Ben thought of something horrifying, but he shook away the thought.

'No.' he thought. 'It isn't possible.'

However, remembering the writing on the cave wall made Ben think that perhaps Ghetto really did see a ghost. Ben glanced at Ghetto once more, deciding that he would have to talk to him at some point.

* * *

"Look!" Argit cried out. "I think I see a station."

Argit was standing on top of a small boulder, looking beyond the ridge. Kevin crawled up the side of the boulder and looked over the side. He squinted, as if trying to see.

"I guess." he mumbled.

Ben let go of Julie's hand and moved over to the side of the boulder. "Does it look like a station?"

Kevin looked down. "It's hard to tell. Can you turn into an alien or something and fly over there and send some help?"

Ben looked down at his wrist for the first time, as if he just now realized that he had the omnitrix. However, something was strange. His omnitrix flashed bright, yellow lights. He began fiddling with it, trying to get it to work.

"Well?" Kevin asked, impatiently.

Ben grumbled to himself. "Something is wrong with the omnitrix."

"What?" Gwen mused, walking closer to her cousin.

"What do you mean 'something is wrong'?!" Argit cried out, hopping down off the boulder and looking at Ben's wrist.

Ben continued to toy around with his watch. "I don't know! It hasn't done this before!"

Kevin crawled off the side of the boulder. "Can you fix it?"

"More specifically," Gunnar said, coming up to join them. "Can you turn into a flyer and go get help?"

Ben was becoming frustrated, and frightened. "I ... I don't know!"

Maya held her hands tightly to her chest and bowed her head down, seeming to rock back and forth. She had been so quiet during the walk. Well, Maya had always been quiet.

Tack reached over to Maya, pulling her into an embrace. As he comforted his friend, he looked over at Ben, trying to look at the omnitrix more closely. "Why is it flashing like that?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know!?" Ben cried out, suddenly feeling crowded.

"Well, that's it!" Argit cried out. "We're screwed! Our last hope of survival is fucked!"

Ben could hear small weeping sounds coming from Maya. Tack held her closer and seemed to rock her back and forth.

Julie didn't look too well, either. She looked towards Ben. Her face paled and her eyes began to water.

Gwen swiftly turned towards Argit, burning with anger. "SHUT IT, RAT-FACE!"

Argit shrunk back from her sudden outburst. He looked away, shamed.

The clouds started to let up, but although it stopped raining, the sky remained dark and grey. Everyone seemed to be stuck. After Gwen's outburst on Argit, no one else said anything. No one moved. Ben stopped toying with his omnitrix, but instead put his hand in his pocket and toyed around with the badge.

Ben looked out into the dark woods, then down into the lake.

'Where are you?' Ben wondered. 'Are you in the woods, or in the lake?'

After a few more awkward moments, Ben decided on something. Turning to the others, he sighed. "Who or whatever is out there can't take us all on at once. What we saw up at the caves was just to scare us, to make was afraid and weak. We should stay here for a little while, and then decide what to do next."

Everyone looked at Ben as if he were mad, but then decided that his words made sense. Whatever had been stalking them was just one thing.

Ester gave small nod, deciding on trusting Ben. The others soon decided that the idea was all they had.

* * *

Ghetto walked off to the shadows of the clearing. Boulders surrounded them from all around, so they seemed safe enough, but everyone knew that they were never really safe. Ghetto knew that there were eyes everywhere. There were the souls' eyes that watched them from the lake.

The souls' eyes pleaded from justice. They knew that the boy with the watch was here, and they wanted him hunt. Ghetto at first didn't understand this. Why did they want Ben to hunt? And what was he to hunt?

But then he figured out something very strange.

Not only were there the eyes of the souls, but there were the eyes of the predator lurking in the forest. He had been the one that put the souls in the lake in the first place. The predator had once suffered a great deal of pain from not only fire, but from water. And now, he was seeking revenge.

The sounds of the cries from the lake still lingered in Ghetto's mind.

'Revenge. Revenge. Revenge.'

Now he understood. The predator was seeking revenge on the one who held the omnitrix, which was Ben. But why? What had Ben done to this monster?

Ghetto didn't know, and he almost didn't want to find out.

The only other detail that Ghetto knew was that the predator put the souls in the lake because he wanted others to suffer, just like he had been suffering for all these years, but it wasn't enough. He wanted Ben's soul, too. He wanted Ben's soul to suffer. Then, the monster stalking them in the woods would not only have his revenge, but he would be freed of all his pain.

Ghetto wasn't sure what to do with this information. If he told the others, he was sure they would all think he was mad. How would he tell them that he saw souls at the bottom of the lake, and at night they still talked to him?

Ghetto wouldn't even believe himself. Ghetto thought perhaps he was just going insane.

* * *

_Can anyone guess what happened to Rook?_

_I haven't posted one of these in a while, so I got to it this morning and finished up this chapter._

_((I OWN THIS FAN FICTION AND ALL THE IDEAS AND OCs I PUT INTO IT. THIS IS COPYRIGHT RED WOLF PRODUCTIONS))_


	8. Everything Comes Tumbling Down

**WARNING: This chapter contains violence/gore.**

Chapter 8 – Everything Comes Tumbling Down

Ben had been asleep when he felt a hand nudging his side. Ben quickly sat up. For a second, he saw bright, yellow eyes flashing at him, but then he relaxed once he saw that he was just imaging the sight. Instead, he saw violet colored eyes beaming down on him. Ghetto looked frightened, more then Ben was.

"Ghetto?" Ben whispered. "What is it? Is it my shift already?"

Ghetto shook his head. "No. I just wanted to speak with you."

Ben tilted his head, confused. "What? Why?"

There was a stir somewhere in the corner where everyone was huddled, sleeping on the ground like animals. Ben looked over at the sleeping bodies, then back at Ghetto. He nodded and then stood up.

"Alright." he whispered in a low voice. "Let's talk some place else, though."

Ben had been tired, but he hadn't been able to sleep, anyway. His dreams had been strange and very disturbing. Ben couldn't stop dreaming of the lake. No matter what, he would constantly be surrounded by dark, dangerous water. And, if he listened carefully, he could hear whispers and moans coming from deep within the lake. And if Ben looked closely, he could see that there were bones. Bones were all over the bottom of the lake. You just had to look hard enough.

However, this dream hadn't frightened Ben, but mostly disturbed him. Ben had wanted to make the bones go away, yet he wanted to look more closely, even if it meant going deeper into the cold, dark lake.

That was the point in the dream when Ben got the feeling that there was something more then just bones in the lake. He got the feeling once he could hear the whispers and moans more clearly. There were other things down in the lake.

Ben shook his head roughly. This was just a dream. Nothing more.

Ghetto looked even more tired then Ben, though. He would often twitch and look in the shadows, as if he expected anything to jump out at any moment. Well, Ben did too, but Ghetto was just more obvious about it.

Ben was more then worried for his friend, though. Surely he hadn't been the only one to notice Ghetto's sudden change in behavior. Ghetto was normally a calm and collective guy, but now, he seemed on edge, and like he would break at any moment.

Once the two walked a little ways away, Ghetto turned to Ben. "The night is still."

Ben nodded, although it seemed like there was something lurking in the shadows. "Yeah. A bit too calm, though."

"I was thinking the same thing." Ghetto admitted. "Anyway, I wished to speak to you about something."

"Yeah?" Ben mused.

"Have you noticed it, too?" Ghetto whispered, as if they were being listened to.

Ben flinched. "Noticed ... what?"

Ghetto glanced around the shadows, avoiding Ben's gaze. "We're being followed."

Ben snorted. "Well, yeah. I'm sure we ALL noticed that."

Ghetto shook his head. "No. Listen. If you had been paying attention, you would have noticed that we are being hunted."

Ben drew in a sharp breath, glancing around. "What do you mean 'hunted'?"

"It's a predator." Ghetto whispered, lowering his voice even more. "It's been stalking us ever since we arrived here, but I've just now noticed. I've always felt as if there were eyes pinned on us from the shadows, but I never thought much of it, until now."

Ben knew what was stalking them, but he wasn't sure if Ghetto was right to call it a 'predator'. Well, now that Ben thought about it, their hunter WAS a predator, and HAD been hunting them since the moment they stepped foot on the ridge.

Ben lowered his voice, too. "I noticed this, as well."

Ghetto blinked. "I wanted to tell you something, though. Something ... I quite don't understand myself."

"Yeah?" Ben whispered.

A sudden breeze blew through the wind, making Ben shiver. He just then remembered that he had given his hoodie to Julie.

"Ben, I saw something. Something in the lake."

Ben shivered. This time, it wasn't because of the wind. "Something ... in the lake?"

Ghetto nodded. "Yes. When we were swimming that one day. I swam to the bottom of the lake and saw the rocky bottom. I thought I was going crazy, but I swear I saw the stones turn to mud."

"Wait." Ben interrupted. "You saw the stones ... turn to mud?"

"Let me finish." Ghetto whispered, glancing around the shadows once more. "Once they turned to mud, the mud turned into a illusion if faces. I thought I was just seeing things, but then I thought I was hearing things, too, because I heard their cries and moans ... and ... and ..."

Ben saw that Ghetto had turned and walked away. He had walked a little ways away into the shadows and began to pace back and forth, as if he were really going insane. Something was wrong. Really wrong.

Ben's heart pounded in his chest. Just like his dream, Ben thought he could hear the cries and moans coming from the bottom of the lake. However, he didn't see the faces from the mud. Instead, Ben had seen the bones.

Ben swallowed hard. "Did you see ... bones?"

Ghetto stopped pacing. He turned towards Ben. "What? N-no. Why? I mean, I saw flames, but ..."

"WAIT." Ben hissed. "You saw FLAMES?"

Ghetto shook his head. "Am I going insane, Ben? I must be."

"No." Ben insisted. "You're right. Something is going on around here, and it has to do with whatever is stalking us."

Ghetto swallowed. "I know. He wants you."

Ben took a step back. How did Ghetto know it was a he? "W-what do you mean it ... he ... wants me?"

"They told me, Ben." Ghetto whispered, almost unheard. "The souls, the faces in the lake, they told me. They whisper secrets to me in my sleep. They tell me of great revenge that is to come. They tell of all the pain and hatred."

Pain, hatred, and revenge. Words that Ben knew all too well.

Ben sat down on a cold stone, feeling all warmth leave his body. "We should have never come ..."

* * *

Oh, how toying with prey was fun.

First, you would make them believe that they were safe and secure, then you would do something 'drastic' that would tip them over the edge, making them scramble for safety that wasn't even there. Slowly, they would loose their minds. They knew that their predator was stalking them through the shadows, but why attack or make it painfully abvious?

Not only would he make them suffer, but he would make the souls in the lake watch as he toyed with their minds, and then killed them. Soon, the souls in the lake would have even more company. And their killer would have his revenge after such a long wait.

Looking into his cave, he uncovered something shinny, and something extremely dangerous.

'Stupid humans.' he thought to himself with a smirk. 'Well, at least now I'll get to test this out.'

* * *

When everyone woke, they were cold and shivering. It was cold and dark outside in the morning, but at least it wasn't raining.

Argit didn't speak, but he seemed as if he wanted to say something. He wanted to go in a certain direction, but Gwen took charge.

Ester had whispered something to Ben, making Julie a little more grumpy then she already was.

Everyone was on edge, but they wanted to get some ground while it was still daylight.

During the night, hardly anyone slept, no matter how hard they tried. The wind would constantly blow, making everyone have chills. The wind seemed to carry voices, or whispers. Everyone just assumed that this was just their imagination, but they couldn't fall back asleep after this.

Once everyone got moving down the side of the ridge once again, Ben noticed something. Once Julie started talking about something privately with Ghetto, Ben sneaked up to the front of the group where Kevin and Gwen where.

"Hey." Ben whispered, coming next to his cousin. "Why are we moving towards the mountains?"

Gwen sighed. "I thought you might notice. I noticed that the Ranger's Station, that is if there even is one, is lower down the ridge. Unless we want to risk falling down the side completely and drowning in the flooded lake, we need to move closer towards to mountains. There should be a valley around there we can move through."

"SHOULD is the key word." Kevin muttered.

Gwen sighed. "Yeah. Exactly."

Ben looked behind him, noticing that Gunnar had moved closer to Ester and began whispering something to her. Every now and again he would glance up at Ben, Gwen, and Kevin, but he would look back at Ester, continuing to whisper something in her ear.

Ben snorted.

"What?" Gwen asked.

Ben looked back ahead. "Nothing."

* * *

Thankfully, the sun had begun to come out as they got closer to the side of the mountain's valley. And, just as Gwen had thought, there was a valley they could travel through.

To everyone's dout, though, the valley didn't look too sound. The wall sides were completely covered in rocks and cracks ran down the sides everywhere. Chips from the valley's walls would fall randomly here and there. The stone ground had cracks, too, making it dangerous if someone got their foot stuck.

"Watch your step." Gwen said loudly, looking behind her, making sure everyone heard her.

"Noted." Tack mumbled.

Maya, who stood next to Tack, crossed her arms and glanced around the valley. "Is this the safest route?"

"It's the fastest." Kevin muttered, already beginning to walk.

Others had begun to follow closely behind.

Ben watched not only where he stepped, but also the walls, which seemed to fall away at any moment. The others, on the other hand, seemed to be only concerned with stepping in a hole or crack.

Just as Ben looked up at the bright sky, he saw a flash of movement. He seemed to flinch at the sight, but kept moving, not wanting to alarm the others. Ben tried to catch the movement again, but he saw nothing. The bright sun made it hard for him to see anything else.

Ben looked down just in time to not step in a hole. He stumbled for a moment, but got back up and continued to move along with the group. Just then, he caught the movement again, but this time it was out of the corner of his eye. Ben quickly snapped his head towards the wall of the valley. He just missed whatever it was, but he saw that whatever it was kicked up a bunch of small rocks, knocking them down the side of the wall.

The rocks clattered down the side of the wall, making some of the others look at the noise.

Argit snorted. "Stupid birds."

Ben didn't bothered saying that whatever it was that had kicked up the rocks was much bigger then a bird, or much more dangerous. He just kept walking.

Ben watched where he was walking, but he also kept a close eye on the wall. He knew that something as watching him. And it was a predator.

There was another swift movement, and this time Ben didn't miss it.

Turning his head quickly, Ben saw the figure. There was a flash of grey, such as a hoodie. Then, there was blue, such as jeans. Ben's heart beat hard in his chest. A person?

He hadn't been able to study the figure for long, though. It was gone just as fast as it had came, bolting behind a boulder. However, the boulder suddenly began to tremble.

Ben stopped to watch. Something was horribly wrong.

"Ben?" Julie called. "What's wrong?"

Suddenly, the boulder gave away, sending it rolling down the side of the valley, and crashing into a cluster of other boulders. Instantly, they all gave away. Some of the boulders had been lodged into the side of the valley wall, sending a giant crack down the side, splitting it open.

Everyone else saw this.

"Run!" Ben yelled.

Instantly, everyone began to sprint down the valley. Everyone tried to avoid cracks in the ground, but it was difficult while running. The ground seemed to tremble as the boulders fell to the ground. Ben could hear the first ones pounding to the ground behind them, deathly close.

Ben fumbled with the omnitrix, but it continued to flash yellow lights, not letting him choose an alien.

"Come on ..." Ben muttered as he ran.

As quick as lightning, a boulder rolled down the side of the valley, as if it had been pushed off separately. The boulder tumbled down forward and crashed in between the group, cutting the group apart from each other.

Ben and Julie were separated.

"Ben!" Julie screamed.

"Keep running!" Ben yelled from behind the boulder.

From the looks of it, everyone else was still ahead of the boulder that had fallen, and only Ben and two others were behind the boulder. They would just have to run around it, and move even faster to make up for ground before other boulders toppled on top of them.

Ben began to turn around the boulder, but then he heard a high pitched scream. Taking up precious seconds, Ben spun around to see who had cried out.

Ben thought he had stopped breathing completely.

A figure, which Ben had thought was one of his friends, had quickly sprinted in the direction that they had been running from. It seemed like suicide, but the shaded figure easily dodged any falling boulders or rocks and just like a shadow would bounce off the walls of the valley.

Ben's gaze instantly fell onto Ester, who had been the one to scream. Her body lied limply on the ground. Although the ground still trembled and rocks fell everywhere, Ben saw that a blade was driven between one of her shoulder blades.

Ester wasn't dead, but she was paralyzed with sudden pain. Strange colored blood oozed from her shoulder, covering the stone ground. Ben on impulse ran over to his friend.

Not knowing what to do, Ben gripped the handle of the blade with one hand and placed his other hand firmly on her shoulder. Ester seemed to know what he was about to do. She gave a whimper, as if begging him for another way, but Ben had already made up his mind.

Being quick, Ben yanked the blooded blade out of her shoulder. In response, Ester gave a shrill cry.

Ben blinked in surprise at the blade that dripped blood. The silver blade that was now covered almost completely in blood had been much thicker and longer then Ben had expected.

"Ben! Ester!" Ben heard Gunnar cry out from somewhere.

Ben shook his head, realizing that they were still in danger. Ben quickly bent over and helped Ester to her feet, even though Ester was still in a daze. Half dragging Ester along, Ben ran through the valley with trembling feet.

Ben noticed that Ester's limbs seemed to be dragging along behind her, but Ben didn't care much at this point. He just wanted to get her out of there.

Ben had stumbled around the side of the boulder that had fallen (or been pushed) in front of them, but they weren't safe just yet.

Ben's friends were waiting there. Each had horrified expressions.

Julie quickly pointed upward. "Look out!"

Ester gave another pained cry, making Ben look behind him. Her limbs had stretched out behind them, and a fairly large boulder had fallen on top of one of her arms.

Ben groaned loud, setting her on the ground, along with the blade he had still been holding. Ester seemed to be following him though, half crawling and half limping. Using her free arm, she tried to pry the boulder off her arm.

Ben looked behind him to see that the others were frozen with horror. Ben looked to the side of the valley, where they all seemed to be looking. Another boulder crashed down towards them, but this one hadn't been on the side of the valley. This one seemed to come out of nothing, as if someone had pushed it off the side.

Ben looked directly into Ester's eyes. Their gazes locked for a few brief moments, but then Ester just nodded. Stretching her free arm, she grabbed Ben by the shirt and launched him back towards where the others where waiting.

Ben crashed into the ground, just in front of where the others waited. Julie rushed over to Ben's side, but both kept their eyes on Ester.

"Ester!" Gunnar cried out, but it was too late.

There was a crash, then a horrible crunching noise.

Everyone stared at the boulder that completely crushed Ester. Seconds later, strange colored blood leaked from under the boulder, sending a tiny stream of blood down the stones.

Just in front of the boulder was the blade covered in the same blood.

Ben's heart thumped even harder in his chest. That was when everything clicked. Ester was dead. And it was because of that same figure that had stabbed her, and most likely sent all those boulders crashing down the side of the valley.

Ben squeezed his tear-filled eyes. He knew. He knew that it wasn't the figure's fault. It was HIS.

And Ben knew why. He also knew that he couldn't hold the truth in any more knowing that Ester was crushed under a boulder and everyone could see the blade.

Soon, everyone would make the sudden connection.

Everything would click towards Ben.

* * *

_This is one of the more longer chapters._

_Oh, and just so you know, the thing that is shinny in the cave isn't the blade. It is something that goes 'vroom vroom'. Hint, hint._

_((I OWN THIS FAN FICTION AND ALL THE IDEAS AND OCs I PUT INTO IT. THIS IS COPYRIGHT RED WOLF PRODUCTIONS))_


	9. Lion

**WARNING: This chapter contains violence/gore and strong language.**

Chapter 9 – Lion

"Whoa-oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh. Whoa-oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh. Whoa-oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh. Whoa-oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh, I wish there was another way out.  
"Voices won't go away. They stay for days and days. They say some awful things, ways to make you fade away. I don't think no one's home. And we're just here alone. I better find you first, before you find the phone.  
"You better run, better run, better run, yeah I'm coming after you. When you're sleeping at night, yeah there's nothing you can do. There's no place you can hide cause I'm coming after you. I wish there was another way ou-ou-ou-ou-oooouuuut for you. I wish there was another way ou-ou-ou-ou-oooouuuut for you."

Hollywood Undead – Another Way Out

* * *

Everyone seemed paralized by the sudden realization that Ester was dead.

DEAD.

Although no one wanted to look at the blade, they had to. They had to look into the face of truth itself. There was a blade there that someone had tried to kill Ester with, and they had stabbed right through her. Even though the blade didn't kill her, the boulders surely did.

The blade was long and think, capiable of killing someone.

Someone had tried to kill Ester. And if they had been the one who set off all the boulders, and it wasn't just an accident, then they had succeeded in killing Ester. The blade was just something to slow her down.

Ben took in another sharp breath.

Suddenly, Gunnar burst out. "E-Ester's ... dead ..."

Kevin growled. "We noticed."

Gunnar swung around at Ben, who was still sitting in a daze on the ground.

"This is YOUR fault!" Gunnar screamed out.

"W-what?" Ben stammered as he stumbled to his feet.

"You heard me!" Gunnar snarled.

Ben was about to say something, but his cousin stepped in front of Ben, looking boiling angry.

"How DARE you blame Ben?" she snarled. "If anything, he almost saved Ester's life!"

"ALMOST is the key word." Gunnar defended. "If it weren't for him, Ester would still be alive!"

Ben was stunned. He wasn't sure what else to say.

Kevin stepped in beside Gwen. "Gwen's right. It isn't fair to say that this is all Ben's fault."

"You know what, Kevin? You're right." Gunnar spat. "It is GWEN'S fault. She just HAD to take us into the valley -"

"ENOUGH!" Ghetto growled. "We can't be fighting amung ourselves. This isn't the time, nor is it the place."

Tack nodded. "Ghetto is right, you guys. We need to keep going."

"But what about Ester?!" Gunnar exclaimed.

"There isn't much we can do, now." Maya whispered.

Everyone hated to admit it, but Maya was right. They had no choice but to leave Ester there. However, before they could move anywhere, Gunnar spun back at Ben.

"You were with her. You MUST have seen who did this to her."

Ben blinked. Well, he didn't see anything or anyone, but he knew perfectly well who had taken Ester's life. He knew now that the blood was on his hands as long as he kept the secret.

Ghetto turned to Ben. "Tell them."

"Wait, HE knows?!" Argit yelled. "What the hell?! I thought we were all in this!"

Kevin glanced over at Argit, then back at Ben. "I hate to admit it, but Argit it right, Ben. You've been keeping a secret about this? Tell us. Now. We're all in danger."

"Ghetto doesn't know!" Ben yelled.

Ghetto blinked. "I don't? What about what we talked about last night?"

"That's nothing." Ben growled. "That means NOTHING. You don't know shit. NONE of you do!"

Gwen looked frightened. "Ben? What's going on?"

Ghetto crossed his arms, looking confused and angry all at once.

Ben breathed out deeply, releasing some steam. "We don't have time for this. We need to go. Now."

Ben moved to leave, but Kevin stepped in his way.

"What are you doing?" Ben hissed. "Didn't you hear me? I said we need to GO."

"NO." Kevin snarled. "We aren't going anywhere until we know what we're against. And I have a feeling you know."

Ben took in another sharp breath, looking at all the eyes pinned on him.

'Tell them.' a voice inside Ben's head hissed. 'Tell them what a monster you have become.'

Ben shook his head. No. He wasn't a monster. The person who had killed Ester, HE was a monster. And Ben knew it.

Thinking, Ben looked back up at his friends. "It's a monster. A monster killed Ester."

"A MONSTER?" Gunnar hissed. "Is this guy being serious?"

Gwen blinked. "Do you mean like some sort of alien?"

Ben nodded his head, feeling his heart rate quickly. "Yes. An alien of some sorts. But he's a monster."

Ben felt as if eyes were locked on him from behind him. Quickly looking behind him, Ben realized that there was no one there. He couldn't keep his eyes away from the blood stained blade, though. Blood continued to run down the side of the rocky ground.

Ben turned back to his friends, not wanting to look at the horrible sight any longer.

"Well?" Tack pressed. "What is it?"

"It's a he." Ghetto muttered.

Everyone turned to Ghetto.

Argit flicked his ears. "He? Like, a dude?"

Ghetto nodded. "He is a predator, and has been hunting us ever since we arrived here."

Julie shook. "S-so ... we're like his ... prey?"

Ben sighed. "Yes."

Kevin snarled at Ben. "Tell the truth. The WHOLE truth."

Ben wasn't even sure where to begin. He shuttered, feeling a sudden wave of coldness. "It's ... it's a monster. And a predator. It ... he ... wants something."

"Something?" Maya whispered.

With a shaking hand, Ben reached down into his pocket, then pulled out the broken badge. He held it out for the others to see.

Ben wasn't sure what made him feel such a feeling, but not only did he feel eyes peeping on them, but he felt as if who or whatever was watching was smiling, perhaps smirking.

'That's it.' the voice whispered. 'Show them the past.'

Ben took in a deep breath. "It happened a long time ago. Well, maybe about a year ago. It was that same day that everyone thought Rook died."

"THOUGHT he died?" Argit muttered.

Ben nodded. "It was here, at Wolfe Ridge. That same day that the fires were lit. You know the stories? The ones that say that some guy started the fires to kill some people?"

Gwen drew in a sharp breath. "Ben, I know that Rook died in a fire, but I didn't know ... I mean ... we would have NEVER come here if we knew that Rook died in this same fire ..."

Ben shook his head. "No. It was MUCH more then that."

"So, Rook was like, MURDERED?" Argit hissed under his breath.

Ben shook his head, looking down at the ground. "No. He wasn't murdered. And he wasn't burned down in a fire, either. He was here, though."

Ben looked up at the horrified expressions of his friends.

Ben took in another breath. "It happened a year ago ..."

* * *

A year ago was how long it was. Ben was still sixteen and Rook was still his partner.

Rook and Ben had gotten into an argument the day before. Ben couldn't even remember what it was. He and Rook were so angry, though. Ben had never seen Rook so angry. He looked like he was ready to kill. That was what got to Ben. He had never seen Rook like that before.

However, all Rook did was hiss horrible words at Ben and leave Ben alone and in a state of confusion.

The next day was the day that the 'incident' happened. Ben had heard that there was a fire at some place called Wolfe Ridge. Ben had called Rook for back-up, but his partner didn't answer back. Ben at the time thought that Rook was still angry at Ben and wasn't picking up because of it.

So, Ben used to power of XLR8 to get to the fire. Things had gone by fine from there, for a while at least. Ben ran through the forest, trying to save as many people as he could before other Plumber reinforcements showed up.

However, that was when the nightmare began.

On the edge of the ridge, where the rocks dropped off into the lake was none other then Ben's partner, Rook.

"Rook!" Ben had cried out. "There you are!"

Rook had ran, though. Ben wasn't sure what was going on, but he was going to put a stop to it. So, Ben ran after Rook. It wasn't easy, considering that the flames were growing more and more out of control and trees would often fall to the ground.

Ben had felt as if his flesh was slowly roasting, but he didn't care.

"Rook!" Ben had cried out. "Rook, wait up!"

That was when Ben should've known that something was wrong, but he was too ignorant to notice the signs.

There had been a scream. A woman's scream.

Ben had rushed to the edge of the ridge to see the nightmare unfold. As if Rook had wanted to lead Ben there, Rook held something in his hand. It wasn't his Proto-Tool. It was a long, skinny, and extremely dangerous blade.

Blood dripped down the side of that blade, falling onto the ground. On the ground was also something that Ben thought he would never see. A woman lied on the ground, blood oozing from her slit throat.

Almost only a few feet away from her was a male's body. His body looked mangled and beated, as if he had been torchured before killed.

Rook's entire front side was covered in scarlet blood. His chest and arms were dripping with the substance. Ben felt as if he were going to faint.

"R-Rook ...?" Ben had muttered, taking a step back.

The heat was pounding down on Ben. He could feel the flames growing behind him. That was the moment he knew that something had gone wrong. Terribly wrong.

Ben had looked behind him to see that trees had fallen to the ground, their flames growing higher and higher. However, at a second glance, Ben saw that the trees hadn't fallen from the fire. They had been cut down, as if planning to be burned by the fire.

When Ben looked back at Rook, he was playing with the blade, looking at it as if he were extremely intrested in the blood the covered it.

"So," Rook had said in a voice that didn't sound like his at all. "I guess I'm capiable of more then you think, Ben Tennyson."

Ben had swayed back, almost falling to the ground. This was Rook Blonko, his partner that believed in justice and doing the right things. But this was murder. MURDER.

Rook gave a sick grin, looking back at Ben. "Oh? So I can't be capiale of planning something so ... well thought out?"

Ben didn't know what to say or do. He could only stare at the blood on Rook and his blade.

Rook had then taken a step towards Ben. "Guess what, Ben? I'm not as useless as you think."

"I ... Rook ..." Ben had stammered.

Ben never thought that Rook was useless. He knew that Rook was smart, but he never knew that Rook was secretly sick. He didn't know that Rook would use his smarts for something so ... HORRIBLE.

Rook had seemed to read Ben's mind, chuckling. "You judged me wrong, I guess."

"R-Rook ..." Ben had stammered, taking another step back. "How ... how could you?"

Rook had hissed at Ben, taking another step closer. "Is that all you have to say? You have NO IDEA what I've gone through. You don't have a single clue as to what I've done for the Plumbers, what I've done for YOU. But you know what, Ben? SCREW IT."

Ben had shaken at this, rememebering their fight before. He then rememebred what it was about. Rook had wanted something, and Ben hadn't given it to him.

"R-Rook ... this isn't right. This ... this isn't how you should go about -"

"I'LL DO WHATEVER THE FUCK I WANT!" Rook hissed. "I tried playing by the rules, I tried being the good little Plumber, but that's all over. I see it, now. The Plumbers are weak and spineless, and so are YOU. You see me, Ben? I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty for what I want, but you on the other hand, you're too pussy to do anything!"

Ben had never heard his partner speak like this before. Rook was even more angry then he had been when they fought the night before. Now, he looked like he really WAS going to kill Ben.

That was where Rook had gone wrong, though. He had planned everything out, but he hadn't planned on his own rage getting in the way of his goal. His goal had been to kill Ben and anyone else in his way, and Ben knew this, but Rook had slipped up.

Rook had forgotten his own plan. He had ranted on for too long. His plan had been for Ben to get closer to the edge of the ridge, where Rook would corner him and kill him. Once the fires were just starting to get out of control, all Rook had to do was throw Ben's body into the lake, wash himself up, and return to HQ the next day as if he didn't know what happened to Ben.

But things hadn't gone that way.

Instead, Rook was too close to the edge of the ridge himself, and the flames had grown out of control faster then he could have ever thought.

A flaming tree had tipped over, making a terrible creaking sound as the flames devoured it. The tree had fallen right in between Rook and Ben, seperating them.

Rook had then hissed in irritation. "No, no, no! This can't be happening!"

Ben wasn't sure what to do. All he could do was stare through the flames and at his murderious partner.

It was then that rocks began to crumble behind the edge of the ridge. Rook looked started, but mostly angry.

His expression was of pure hatred as he stared through the flames and back at Ben. His look said it all.

'I hate you.'

'I want you dead.'

Ben had seen something shoot out the corner of his eye. He gave a startled cry, but was too late to warn Rook. A branch had snapped off the side of another falling tree, flying right at Rook. Just like that, the branch hit head on the side of Rook's face, sending him to the ground in a complete daze and blooded mess.

Rook lied on the rocky ground as the flames grew more and more out of control. In the distance blood cries could be heard of people burning to death, or the ones that had fallen off the side of the ridge and tumbled into the water. The water now seemed to run red.

When the branch hit Rook, his badge had gone flying across the rocks. It hit another rock, shattering the badge's glass. However, just as it broke, it slipped off the edge of the ridge and rolled into the water below.

Rook was in a blooded mess, but still alive. Just when he thought that his plan couldn't go any worse, it did.

Another tree had fallen, then. This one was next to the edge of the ridge. The first tree that had fallen was still growing in flames, but nothing compared to the next one that fell.

Ben gasped, seeing the tree. He quickly ran to aviod being hit by this tree. However, he hadn't been able to prevent the tree from hitting the other one. Ashes flew all around Rook, making him scream out in pain.

Not even his armor could protect him from the skin-melting heat. However, that had been when the edge of the ridge finally gave away. Rocks spilled out, carring the whole side and everything on it along into the water.

Rook had tumbled down with the rocks, something that should've killed him. And even if the rocks didn't kill him from the long drop, then the flaming trees that fell after him would've.

Ben had looked over the edge once the flaming trees had fallen down, along with Rook. All Ben saw were other bodies floating in the water and the trees that had toppled on top of Rook. Ben looked away, afraid one of the floating bodies would be his partner.

Ben had left then.

The next day hadn't gone so well. Ben didn't tell anyone of Rook's death, not even the other Plumbers. All he told them was that he had witnessed others dying right in front of him, which was completely true.

Ben could never forget that horrifing day, no matter how hard he tried. He could never forget the floating bodies, the rushing water, the screams, the cries, and the sound of roaring fames.

Ben often rememebered that day as the flames casting down on Rook, making look like a fierce and powerful lion. The flames roared in Ben's ears, telling him of the death to come. However, water easily drowned the lion, silencing the flames.

People had searched the waters for all the bodies. All the bodies found were pulled out from the water, but everyone knew that there had to others trapped under rocks somewhere at the bottom of the lake, and there had been others burned to death in the fire.

Ben had later made up the story about a few days later that Rook had gone back to his home planet. Ben even faked a note from Rook saying that he was leaving and quit being a Plumber. This had confused many people, making them all ask questions, but Ben wasn't willing to talk about it. He would always claim that he knew nothing about Rook's motives.

Later, he had made up the story that Rook was burned to death in a fire. After all, some Plumbers were becoming curious and wanted to know where Rook was, and why he quit being a Plumber. So, Ben had to make up the story that Rook was dead, so people stopped snooping around.

Ben knew that he had covered his lies with more lies, but he had gotten so good at it he couldn't stop. He didn't want anyone to know the truth, because that would mean telling one of his own secrets.

* * *

As Ben told his friends the story, he left out the part about what Ben and Rook's fight had been about.

For his friend's own protection, Ben decided on not telling them. He thought that when Rook 'died', he had died along with Ben's secret, but Ben knew that wasn't true.

Rook was still alive. And he was going to finish what he started.

* * *

"I am a lion and I want to be free. Do you see a lion when you look inside of me? Outside the window just to watch you as you sleep. Cause I am a lion born from things you cannot be. How can I sleep at night, there's a war inside my head? I found a lion hidden right beneath my bed. I will not hide myself from the tears that you have shed. Cause I am a lion and you are dead.  
"Here's a story of everything we'll ever be. You can hide but some of us can never leave. And if you go I don't need those little things. They remind me of all our little dreams. Can you hear the words, all I can say? We can watch the world even if they walk away. Forget about tomorrow, tomorrow is today. You were born a lion and a lion you will stay.  
"I am a lion and I want to be free.. Do you see a lion when you look inside of me? Outside the window just to watch you as you sleep. Cause I am a lion born from things you cannot be."

Hollywood Undead - Lion

* * *

_Hooray for random chapter title._

_I'm more then half way done with this fan fiction. So excited for the ending!_

_((I OWN THIS FAN FICTION AND ALL THE IDEAS AND OCs I PUT INTO IT. THIS IS COPYRIGHT RED WOLF PRODUCTIONS))_


	10. Insanity

Chapter 10 - Insanity

Julie had cried herself to sleep that night, but Ben didn't so much as move to comfort her. As much as he hated to admit it, he didn't so much as care anymore. It was almost as if his heart was as cold as the rest of his body.

The further on they walked, the more and more cold they all got. Everyone was shivering. Even Argit and Ghetto.

Ben felt his veins were running cold with frost and his skin feel frozen to the touch. He knew that everyone else was freezing, too. But Ben deep down knew that he was the most cold. He could slowly feel himself becoming colder and colder by the second. The more Ben thought about the matter at hand, the more he felt his insides turning to ice.

He couldn't shake the feeling of sudden unease. The more and more he felt this feeling, the more and more felt felt himself slipping. He couldn't quite explain the feeling, but he knew that it was there. He knew that the feeling wasn't going away. And he knew that whatever he was feeling had to do with Rook and himself.

Ben knew this. He knew because the voice in the back of his head would constantly whisper to him.

'You'll give in soon enough.' it would whisper. 'And you'll soon see my pain.'

Ben had wanted to scream back at this voice, but he knew that it would be pointless, and that doing so would only give it more pleasure. Doing so would make Ben all the more distressed, and make the voice more pleased.

Ben hated this. He hated knowing that whatever was torturing had always had a hold on Ben, and could toy with his mind in any way it pleased. It had always been like this, though.

Ever since Rook had fallen off the side of the ridge and into the lake, Ben had been hearing these voices and feeling this sudden feeling of being imprisoned. He knew that this was him just simply going insane, but he couldn't shake the feeling that this was also in some way Rook's doing.

So, that morning, Ben decided that it was time for him to take charge. Even if he WAS going slightly insane, it was time for him to take control. The time for others to take the lead was over. Now, it was time for Ben to take the lead.

Ben nudged the side of everyone that still slept on the ground. The sky was still a dark black. The sun wasn't even close to coming up.

"What ...?" Gunnar muttered, rubbing his eyes. "Ben?"

"Wake up." Ben ordered. "It's time to go."

Gwen stirred somewhere near Gunnar. She sat up and looked sheepishly at Ben through the dark. "Ben. You're just sleep walking. Go back to sleep."

"No." Ben snapped. "I'm perfectly awake. Now, get up and get ready to move. Wake up Kevin, Gwen. Gunnar, get up and don't complain."

Both Gunnar and Gwen stared blankly at Ben for a moment, but once they saw that Ben was staring at them with seriousness, they began to scramble to their feet.

Ben nudged Argit and Ghetto awake. They also looked at him with question, and Argit looked as if he wanted to object, but Ben just hissed some harsh words to him that got him off his butt.

Once everyone was wake and on their feet, they looked towards Ben with great question.

Kevin crossed his arms. "Why are we all wake during the night?"

"It's the morning." Ben pointed out. "In a few hours the sun will come out."

Argit blinked his beady eyes. "But we can't travel in the dark! What if ..."

Ben snapped his head towards Argit. "I'm going to lead us down the side of the ridge. And we're going to get there quickly. If anyone has any questions, you can ask them as we go. Now, ready?"

Everyone looked at Ben with mixed emotions. Many looked frightened by his new attitude, but many looked questioning. No one asked any questions, though.

So, Ben lead the way down the ridge in the pitch black.

Just as Ben had said, the sun wasn't going to come up for another few hours. So, they all had to walk in complete darkness. Even though it was completely dark and everyone had to watch where they were walking, Ben insisted on them walking quickly.

It was as if Ben was a completely different person. In just an instant, he had taken charge and turned things around. They were now moving faster in the dark then they were in daylight. This seemed dangerous, and not just because of the fact that they could trip and fall down anything on the ridge, but because of the fact that things were lurking in the night.

Ben knew this, though. He also knew that by moving faster their predator was able to hear their steps easier and could pin point them easier, but Ben deep down knew what he was doing, even if his friends didn't.

Ben was in the lead, obviously. His heart beat in his chest to the point where all he could hear were his own breaths, his footsteps, and his heart thumping in his chest.

'I'm coming.' the voice whispered to Ben.

Ben tired to ignore it, though. He didn't want to think about that at the moment. And he for sure didn't want the voice to torture him.

'You can't escape. So why are you running?' the voice questioned. 'You know just as well as I do that you have to suffer. You HAVE to.'

Ben shook his head as he quickened his pace.

"Ben." Gwen hissed from somewhere behind him. "Slow down."

Ben ignored her.

'You have to suffer. You have to BURN.' the voice hissed, suddenly sounding like Rook's voice. 'You KNOW what you did. Yet, you ignore the truth. Are you proud of what you've become? You've got blood on your hands, Ben. You know what you did. You KNOW.'

"I'm not proud." Ben growled to himself.

"What?" someone from behind him asked, overhearing Ben.

Ben didn't answer. He just kept walking.

'Was it worth it? Was it worth watching me suffer?' the voice growled, now sounding exactly like Rook.

Ben's heart felt as if it were about to beat out of his chest. He thought that he was about to pass out. This had never happened before. Never before had the voice said so much to him, or had it ever said such foul things. Yet, Ben knew that ever single word was true.

The words seemed to echo in ben's mind. 'You've got blood on your hands. You know what you did. You KNOW.'

The voice didn't stop there, though. 'How is this fair, Ben? How is it fair that I continue to suffer here, trapped, while you continue to live a life of luctury? You're just as guilty as I am, Ben. You know what I want. You know. Now, you'll give it to me, or I'll take your friends along with you.'

Ben suddenly felt a hand grip his shoulder. He spun around, feeling the hair on the back of his neck prickling. He thought he saw a flash of flames and a half-burned face, but he then saw that it was only Kevin.

"Ben!" Kevin hissed.

Ben blinked as he stared blankly at his friend.

"Ben, we NEED to stop." Kevin whispered.

Ben looked behind Kevin to see that his friends were still struggling to keep up and climb the side of the ridge.

Ben felt his breathing beginning to become more under control. He then sighed heavily. "Alright. We'll rest here until the sun comes up."

Kevin gave his friend a thankful glance, nodding. He then let go of Ben's shoulder and walked down to the rest of his friends.

Ben continued to stand where he was. He felt as if someone was breathing down his neck, but he didn't bother feeling his neck, or even looking behind him. He knew that no one was there.

Ben sighed. He knew what he had to do, but he also knew that it wasn't going to be easy.

'You know what you have to do.' the voice whispered, reading his mind. 'Do it.'

Ben looked towards his group of friends, who were all sitting down on rocks an beginning to rest. No one looked towards Ben, as if he weren't even there.

Taking in a deep breath, Ben turned and walked backwards, being careful to not bump into anything. Once he thought that he was in complete darkness, he turned and stalked away into complete darkness. As he walked, he soon was away from the edge of the ridge and in the woods.

Ben breathed in the fresh, forest air. The birds were already beginning to wake, chirping and flying around the trees above Ben's head. He knew that meant that there would predators awake, too. Well, he also knew that one predator never did sleep.

As Ben walked deeper into the woods, he felt as if a dark shadow was casted over him, sending chills down his spine.

Soon, Ben came upon a clearing. No matter how hard he tired, he could never forget this clearing. He never could forget that horrible day that he and Rook made a secret together, and that they had come to this exact clearing to not only make that secret, but as if to burry that secret.

The day that Ben had thought that Rook died was also the day that Ben thought that Rook had also buried their horrible secret forever, but Ben had been wrong about that. Now, Rook was looking to make Ben suffer for that same secret all over again.

Now that Ben thought about it, though, he began to see how Rook was right. He knew that it wasn't fair. It ALL wasn't fair. And not just to Rook. It wasn't fair to Ben that he had to live with such a horrible secret and never tell anyone in such horrible fear, and it wasn't fair to Rook that he had to live and suffer whereas Ben got to get a free pass, and it for sure wasn't fair to ...

Ben swallowed hard. No. He wouldn't say that name ever again. He and Rook had both promised each other they wouldn't.

As Ben stood in the clearing, he felt as if invisible fingers reached up from the ground to reach for Ben.

All Ben could do was stare at the ground, feeling a lump form in his throat.

'I'm sorry.' Ben thought with such pity. 'I'm SO sorry.'

Ben expected to hear the voice suddenly pip in, but he didn't. All was silent. Even the birds didn't cry out.

Suddenly, the sun rose over the hills.

Ben sat down on the ground of the dirt clearing and placed his hands on the ground, as if to bless whatever sins had once been made.

"I would take it all back ..." Ben whispered.

A sudden crunching noise made Ben look up towards the shadows. There, in the dark shadows, stood a tall, slender figure. The figure wore a dirty, grey hoodie. He also wore baggy pants and old shoes. His violet colored hands were dirty and scratched up, as if living in the woods had made them rough.

Ben willed himself not to look, but he looked towards the face. However, he wasn't able to see the face. The figure wore a mask, as if to hide his shame.

As if reading Ben's mind, Rook chuckled sickly. "What? You burn off half of my face and you expect me NOT to wear a mask?"

Ben drew in a sharp breath, but didn't move. He stayed on his knees on the ground, watching Rook. Rook, too, stood standing in the shadows.

Ben finally took in a deep breath. "Well? Isn't this want you wanted?"

Although he was wearing a mask, Ben knew that Rook was giving a sick and twisted grin.

* * *

"I'm only evil when I need to be, but you did this so easily.

I try to treat you equally and listen to your reasoning.

But you waited so eagerly while plotting and deceiving me.

You came behind me secretly and shattered every piece of me.

I have nothing to give, so I gave you my life!

Didn't want to see me live, so you gave me your knife.

Didn't hear you as you tiptoed coming from behind.

You took away my kids, so I guess you killed me twice.

Drag me into the night, cause it's the one thing you keep.

You knew that I had to die, so you could finally sleep.

This blood all over your knife, you know you earned yourself.

And it's a matter of time until you burn in hell.

"I can see blood all over my hands.

The longer you lay next to me, the further I ran.

What's it all worth? How much can you stand?

The longer you stay close to me, the further I ran."

Hollywood Undead – Mother Murder

* * *

_Not much to say here I guess._

_I guess you start to see how Rook and Ben have more going on then people know._

_((I OWN THIS FAN FICTION AND ALL THE IDEAS AND OCs I PUT INTO IT. THIS IS COPYRIGHT RED WOLF PRODUCTIONS))_


	11. Two Can Keep a Secret if One is Dead

**WARNING: This chapter contains violence/gore.**

Chapter 11 – Two Can Keep a Secret if One is Dead

Ben could never forget. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't EVER forget the day that things between him and Rook had changed forever. At first, Ben had thought that Rook stayed silent about the whole thing just because of the fact that he was scared, but now Ben understood.

Not only was Rook looking for revenge, but he was looking to make Ben suffer for all the years he had kept the secret. He was making Ben pay for what he did.

Ben tried to stand up, but he toppled back onto his bottom. He scooted back on the ground as Rook walked closer. His mask covered his face, but nothing covered his ambition.

"R-Rook ..." Ben stammered. "Think of what you're doing ...! K-killing me won't do anything!"

Rook just seemed to snarl. "Do NOTHING? Maybe you ARE as stupid as I thought. You know that you're just as guilty as I am."

"B-but that's what I'm saying!" Ben tried as he scooted back the ground, Rook still slowly approaching.

Rook made a clicking sound with his tongue, shaking his head sadly. "How sad, Ben. I knew you were secretly crule and strange, but I NEVER thought that you would let me just almost die like that."

"You tried to kill ME!" Ben wailed.

Suddenly, Ben's back hit something. He didn't dare looked away from the predator making his way across the clearing, but Ben knew he had bumped into tree.

"You know the saying, Ben." Rook chuckled, reaching into his hoodie pocket. "Two can keep a secret if one is dead."

"R-Rook ..." Ben said in almost a whisper. "I ... we ... it doesn't have to end like this ...!"

"And why not?" Rook muttered, slightly tilting his head.

"K-killing me can't undo what has been done!" Ben wailed.

This made Rook suddenly stop in his tracks, only a few feet away from Ben, who was still on the ground and cornered by a tree.

Rook just stared at Ben, as if staring through his soul. This freaked Ben out. He knew that behind that mask was another monster.

Ben glanced at his omnitrix, but saw that it was still flashing yellow. He swallowed hard.

Rook then pulled his hand out of his hoodie, but now held what looked to be a dagger in his hands. It was already blood stained.

"No." Rook whispered, barely heard. "NOTHING can undo what we did, and NOTHING can undo what YOU did."

Ben swallowed hard. "What I-I did?"

Rook held the dagger out, pointing it right at Ben. "YOU did all of this. YOU sucked me into your little games, and YOU did this to me. I had no other choice. If YOU didn't speak up about what happened, then I had to. And the only way I was able to do that was to slay you. Instead, YOU just let me almost drown in the lake, and YOU let the flames almost destroy me. But I came back, Ben. I'm NOT finished with you. Not yet. I may not have died with the secret, but you will, and you can see all the pain and suffering I have gone through."

Ben swallowed another lump, not sure what else to do, or say. As much as he hated to admit anything Rook said, he had ALWAYS felt this pain. He hated knowing that deep down his sick mind was almost glad that Rook had died, taking their secret with him. Ben had thought he was home free, but he had ben wrong. He could NEVER forget what had happened, and the fact that Rook had to die along with the secret.

Now, Rook had turned back around, and was ready to finished what he had started.

Rook held the dagger tighter and tighter in his hands, keeping the blade pointed at Ben. He drew in a sharp breath, sounding like a horrible hiss.

Ben slightly shook at the sight. He then swallowed hard and gave a stern look. "Well? You wanted me to pay; now just do it!"

Rook stood frozen for a moment longer, keeping the blade in Ben's direction.

"Now, that would be too easy, now wouldn't it?" Rook chuckled.

'W-what?" Ben stammered.

"You can know for sure that I WILL kill you, but I want something more." Rook chuckled.

Ben couldn't take much more of this. He looked at Rook with hatred, but was still fearful. "WHAT MORE COULD YOU WANT?"

"Like I said," Rook muttered. "You are to suffer."

Ben suddenly shook from fright. He swallowed another lump, feeling as if something horrible was about to happen.

Just at the moment, Rook threw the dagger. Ben shut his eyes, thinking that this would be the fatal blow. But he thought wrong.

There was a horrible pain in Ben's shoulder. He instantly shot open his eyes and gasped in suddenly pain. However, he then wished he hadn't opened his eyes. Inches away from his face was Rook's. Although he was still wearing his mask, Ben had been horrifyingly startled.

Ben placed his hand on the handle of the dagger that was now stabbed into his shoulder, but he didn't do anything else as he continued to stare into Rook's face. As Ben held the handle, he could feel thick blood oozing through his fingers. Ben took in a shuttered breath.

Rook gave a low, sick chuckle. "Trust me. It will be more torturous to let you alive. Then, you'll be able to see what is coming."

Ben didn't understand Rook's words, but he kept silent as he suddenly felt light headed.

Just then, Rook roughly grabbed Ben's injured shoulder with one hand, making the smaller male cry out in suddenly pain. Then, Rook used his other hand to pry the dagger free from Ben's shoulder. Blood instantly oozed out from the open wound, spilling down his shirt and chest.

Ben took in another shuttered breath as Rook seemed to play with the blade that now dripped Ben's blood. The sight of Ben's blood on the dagger seemed to feed Rook's hunger. He even gave a low and pleased growl.

Ben was too paralyzed by pain and fear to move. He watched as Rook brought the dagger to Ben's cheek. He slowly moved the sharp tip along Ben's fair skin and moved it to below Ben's eye.

Ben's heart rate quickened, making it feel like his heart was going to beat right out of his thin chest that was now covered in his own blood.

Rook gave a purr, pressing the dagger's tip just below Ben's eye. "You took one of my eyes, Ben. Shouldn't it be fair that I take one of yours?"

Ben tried to release a high pitched scream of pain and fright, but nothing came out. Seeing Ben struggle made Rook all the more pleased.

Just at that moment, there came a voice form the far distance.

"Ben!" Gwen cried out. "Ben where are you?"

Rook gave an angered growl. He pulled the dagger away from Ben's face, but made a deep cut down the side of Ben's cheek. Ben hissed at the sharp pain.

Standing back up, Rook took another look at the blade, feeling a sudden urge to take more of the same blood, but he knew better.

"Remember, Ben," Rook hissed. "I'm ALWAYS watching."

And with that, Rook sprinted down into the tall brush cover. His tall and slender figure disappeared, leaving Ben alone to bleed by the tree.

Ben had wanted to call back to Gwen, and the others with her, but Ben couldn't even move, let alone speak. He felt even more light headed as he lied his back on the tree's trunk. The pain didn't go away, and his heart continued to race.

Just when Ben thought he was seeing black, a firm hand shook Ben's good shoulder. Ben didn't see the person very clearly, but he did release a pained moan.

Ben heard footsteps coming into the clearing, all surrounding Ben.

Ben thought he caught the worried expression Gwen, and maybe even Julie, but Ben couldn't be too sure. His heart raced faster and faster, until it just suddenly stopped.

Ben's eyes grew wide at the blurred figures. He tried to take in a deep breath, but it brought too much pain to him. Ben wasn't sure what was happening, but he soon surrendered to the darkness that fell over him. He still felt the hand shaking his shoulder, but Ben knew that the sooner he gave in, the sooner the pain would go away.

* * *

There was a few moments of being in the dark, but then Ben felt himself slowly waking back up.

Opening his eyes suddenly, Ben saw that he was still in the same spot where he had just about passed out. And there in front of him were his friends.

Most of them.

The person who had been shaking his shoulder was Kevin. His hand moved away from Ben's shoulder as he saw the young male waking back up.

"Ben!" Gwen cried out. "You're alright!"

Ben felt himself starting to breath again, but his shoulder pain came back, as well. He felt his face stinging from where he had been cut, but his shoulder was in much more pain then the rest of his body.

Ben looked around at the group, feeling himself start to worry, again. "Where's Julie?"

There was a long silence.

Gwen swallowed, then spoke up. "We thought she was with you ..."

Ben shuttered. Rook was right. Letting Ben live was MUCH more torture.

* * *

_The next chapter will contain much more blood and gore, and some more secrets will be revealed. Someone dies. Just be prepared._

_((I OWN THIS FAN FICTION AND ALL THE IDEAS AND OCs I PUT INTO IT. THIS IS COPYRIGHT RED WOLF PRODUCTIONS))_


	12. Red

**WARNING: This chapter contains strong language.**

Chapter 12 - Red

Ben had a feeling that he was going to run into Julie, soon, but he wasn't about to go looking for her. It was a cold and cruel thing to say, but he knew that at some point he was bound to run into her, again. Even if it wasn't in the way he would have liked.

So, Ben told the others that they were going to have to head towards the Ranger's Station. And they were just going to have to travel all day and night. No stopping. If they walked straight there and cut through the ridge's shore line, then they would get there by night and would be able to get inside the Ranger's Station all in one go. But they had to hurry.

They others looked at Ben as if he were mad, but no one argued. No one wanted to stay in this horrible place for a moment longer. Even if it meant going none stop and cutting through the dangerous, rocky shore line, then so be it.

Gwen looked like she had wanted to say something, but Kevin hushed her. Ben was going to lead them through the rocks with crashing waves and caves. And that was final.

* * *

Ben's shoulder hurt like crazy, but he knew that he had to keep going. He had to get himself and the others to that Ranger's Station, before Rook decided to end things for real this time. No holding back, and no hesitation.

A sick feeling kept growing in the pit of Ben's stomach. He got the horrible and terrible feeling that Rook was getting impatient. He was waiting like a polar bear waited at a hole for a seal. The only difference was that Rook was able to snatch away at his little seals. He had them right where he wanted them, and they knew it. He could play with their minds, making them go slightly insane. He could kill them if he wished, but he wanted the biggest and fattest seal for his meal. And he knew which one that was, but he wanted to make a game with the others. Even if the others didn't make much of a meal for him, then why not have some fun?

Ben swallowed hard, knowing that something else was going to happen. Things were going to get A LOT worse before they got better. If they got better at all, that is.

* * *

"Shit." Kevin snarled.

"What?" Gwen asked.

Kevin looked around the group, then behind him. "Where's Argit?"

Ben stopped walking and looked behind him. Kevin was right. Argit was gone. Ben just shook his head, his heart beating a million miles per second.

"We HAVE to keep going." Ben muttered, starting to walk again.

"What about Argit?" Maya cried out.

"We can just hope that he'll find his way back and catch up." Ben answered, already ahead of the others.

Everyone glanced at each other, and then began following Ben.

The horrible and sickening feeling returned to Ben, and started sinking in to the others.

* * *

Walking further and further into the day, Ben felt as if every second that ticked by was another second that they all got closer to their doom. Ben felt as if his feet were going to fall off completely, but he didn't care. They NEEDED to get to that Ranger's Station, and just pray to God that there was someone there.

As they walked on further and further, Tack couldn't help but shifting around and glancing over his shoulder every now and again. He continued to walk with haste, but he couldn't help but getting the feeling that hungry eyes were pinned on all of them.

Suddenly, Tack just stopped, looking behind them. Ben continued to walk, not noticing that one of them had stopped.

However, Maya had noticed. "Tack?"

Tack stared blankly into the darkness.

"What is it?" Ghetto asked.

Ben stopped for a moment, looking behind him to see that everyone had stopped to look at Tack, who was staring off into the brush behind them.

Then, Tack slowly began to walk back into the group as he whispered something. "We're being hunted ..."

As if on cue, there came a low growling sound from inside the brush. Ben instantly bristled, not sure what to do. Keep walking? He thought so.

However, the others just huddled together and stared into the brush. Suddenly, they heard howling sounds coming from the mountains. They sounded close.

Kevin just huffed and turned to keep walking. "Come on. We've got to keep going."

The others glanced back at the brush once more, but then followed Kevin and Ben, nevertheless.

* * *

Ben felt it. The feeling was as if someone was breathing down his neck, but he knew that it was just a wrong thought. There was no one behind him but his friends. And they weren't that close behind Ben. Still, Ben felt extremely paranoid. He knew that somewhere off in the distance, there were beady eyes watching them.

Ben knew what Rook wanted. He was waiting for Ben to slip up, letting him dive in for the kill, but Ben wasn't prepared to let Rook do that. Even if the omnitrix was still freaking out, he wouldn't let Rook just simply get his way like a spoiled child.

No. Ben had then and there decided that no matter what happened, he would make sure that Rook didn't get his way. He wouldn't have at Ben. And no matter how things turned out in the end, Ben would not only hold out, but avenge those who had also fallen victim to Rook, including Ester. And perhaps Julie and Argit.

Julie and Argit. Damn. Ben didn't even know what to think of them. He had wanted with all his heart to go after Julie, and to find her, but he was also afraid of what he would find. So, Ben decided on just leading the rest through the ridge's shore line, making a bee line for the Ranger's Station. They HAD to get there. They just had to ...

Although Ben felt like his legs were completely numb and his body was sore all over, he kept on walking. If one of the others slowed, he would just turn his head and give them a nasty look, making them get moving again. Ben wasn't going to slow or stop just because someone else had. No. They ALL needed to get to the Ranger's Station, so they ALL had to walk with haste with no stops.

Just when Ben felt as if he were about to pass out himself, he heard another blood-chilling cry. And this time, it wasn't from one of the wolves that seemed to be following the others closely along with Rook. Instead, the scream came from somewhere down by the side of the ridge.

Right where they were headed.

For the first time in hours, Ben stopped walking completely. He felt like he would fall to the ground, but he didn't. He was completely frozen to the ground. He was in a dazed state as he looked onward towards the crashing waves that hit the rocks and boulders far below.

Gunnar swallowed a hard lump in his throat. "Are ... are we still going down ...?"

Ben swung on his heels to face Gunnar, his face burning from the sun and with anger. "YES. I said this before, and I'll say it again. We are NOT stopping. And we ARE getting to that Ranger's Station by tonight."

"Night ..." Maya whispered, looking towards the ground.

Yes. Night. It was the one time when predators would prowl around and be unnoticed by their prey. Ben and everyone else knew perfectly fine who was the predator, and who was the prey.

And for once, Ben felt completely trapped. Hopeless. Was he making a mistake?

Looking up at the sky, Ben saw that he had gotten so lost in his own paranoid thoughts to even notice that the sun was already beginning to set. The sky looked as if it had once been a bright pink, but now it was quickly turning into a blood red.

Ben swallowed a hard lump, turning back to his friend. "Yes ..."

Gwen looked up at Ben with wide eyes. "Are you sure?"

Ben thought about this for a moment. Was he just sending his friends to their deaths? Or was he really saving them? Ben didn't know. All he knew was that Rook was getting hungry. And he was ready to kill.

Ben just gave a slight nod. "Yes. I'm sure. Now, let's go while we still have some light."

Everyone gave each other strange and scared looks. Even Kevin looked towards Gwen with a tingle of fright, but Gwen was no better. She seemed even worse. Her rational mind was now fried. She couldn't process anything right.

Maya and Tack stayed close together, both feeling extremely frightened.

Kevin no longer walked beside Ben. He stuck beside Gwen while Ben took the lead.

As Ben got to the edge of the shore line, the sun began to set even more, casting red shadows along the sides of the ridge and the water. Just then, Ben got a horrible and sick feeling. Looking down at the water, he suddenly saw even more red, as if the lake was running with thick, blood.

Ben swallowed hard, shaking his head.

The others seemed to see it, too, though. The red setting sun seemed unsettling. And what was even more unsettling was the fact that Ben was leading them without any real plan.

* * *

_This chapter took a while, and it's pretty short. It's kind of just a warm up for the next chapter, I guess. Sorry about the delay. I was stuck at this one part, so I guess I just decided to delete it completely and do a different scene for it in the next chapter. It was with Argit, if you're wondering._

_Just a heads up, the next chapter will have plenty of blood and gore in it. It's the climax of the story, I guess. So, there are only a few more chapters left. I already know how I want to end this story, and it's going to be pretty gory and messed up._

_Oh, Rook ..._

_((I OWN THIS FAN FICTION AND ALL THE IDEAS AND OCs I PUT INTO IT. THIS IS COPYRIGHT RED WOLF PRODUCTIONS))_


	13. The Truth Can Kill

**WARNING: This chapter contains violence/gore and strong language.**

Chapter 13 – The Truth Can Kill

The day 'the incident' had happened had been a similar day like this. The sky had been clear and everything seemed just fine, but there was still that strange feeling that something wasn't right. Perhaps it was the feeling of the setting. After all, the sky wasn't exactly an orange, anymore. The sky was more of a red. A dark, blood red. That was what it was. THAT was what had set Ben off that day.

Had Rook been set off? No. This had all been before Rook had lost his mind. All before the incident had really happened. Rook had just been his normal self. Or ... had be been? Ben couldn't tell for sure. Rook had seemed to be his normal self. He had talked in his normal way, which was how he seemed to never understand anything.

But that didn't last long. After the incident was over and done with, and Rook had done his does at the ridge, he had changed. He had changed so quickly. Ben had come to believe to Rook had changed over a long, slow period of time. So, when he and Rook had been patrolling that one day together and Rook had seemed 'normal', he much have just been pretending. Pretending to be sane.

Anyway, Ben remembered the day as if it were yesterday. He and Rook had been out patrolling together. Rook had turned his truck into a ship and they had flown out down into Undertown. There, they had been given orders to pick up a Magister. A very important Magister at that. One of Max's old and very trusted friends.

Not only was this Magister a friend of Max's, but he was Ben's advisor. Ben didn't know what that meant when his grandfather first explained that to him, but once Rook had explained it to him, Ben understood. He then knew that this Magister held something over Ben that other people didn't. No, it wasn't power or control. It was higher authority.

In other words, if his advisor had 'resigned', Ben would not only gain the Magister's old authority, but he would be higher in command, gaining a higher status and respect then he already had. If this had happened, then Ben wouldn't even need a partner anymore. This had worried Ben. He actually enjoyed being Rook's partner, but he soon figured out the cold, hard truth.

"Where's Magister Lucan?" Ben had asked Rook, walking up beside his partner as he drove the ship.

Rook turned his head, his yellow eyes meeting with Ben's. His expression was normal enough. "I last saw him in the back, by the crates of waste."

Ben nodded, beginning to walk away. "Thanks."

Ben had walked out to the back of Rook's ship, looking for the Magister (or his advisor) by the crates of waste, but he didn't find him. He saw nothing but crates, crates, and more crates. Why did Rook have so many?

Sighing, Ben though of returning to Rook, but then he heard a blood chilling cry. It sounded like a large animal in extreme and sudden pain. The cry only lasted a second, though, and then turned to pained and frightened moans.

Magister Lucan.

Ben turned on his heels and ran for the front of the ship, leaving the back room and making his way to the front of the ship. He ran to the driver's side, but saw that Rook was no where to be seen. The ship was on auto pilot.

Ben looked to the side of the ship's doors to see where the moaning could have come from, but then heard a new sound. A loud clattering came from where Ben had just been. The sound was so loud that it made Ben jump a good foot and his heart skip a beat. His head whipped around to where the sound came from, but he then heard Rook's voice.

"Assassin!" Rook snarled out after the sound had died down a little. His breath came out shuttered, as if he had been sprinting. "Assassin on board!"

Assassin. That was a word Ben thought he would never have to deal with. But then, he realized what had happened. Magister Lucan had been hurt by an assassin, and Rook had tried to stop whoever it was. He must have chased the assassin through the back, passing the crates as knocking them over, missing the assassin and letting them escape through the back passage.

Ben's heart beat even harder in his chest. He had just been in the back room. He had been so close ...

Ben heard the moaning, again. It was so faint that he heard it coming from the loft of the ship. Ben turned and quickly made his way along the side of the ship, getting up to help the Magister. Ben made his way up to the loft and searched for anything, but only saw dark and casted shadows.

Finally, he was able to spot the dark, shifting figure of his advisor. He was huddled over in the corner of the room. His shoulders were hunched over and he was breathing heavily. His shuttered breaths came in slowly, sending chills down Ben's spine. He swallowed a hard lump and walked closer to the Magister.

"Magister Lucan ...?" Ben whispered, his voice sounding rough.

The Magister, who was a tall man with pale, green skin was huddled in the corner with papers and boxes scattered everywhere, showing that he had given up quite a fight, but not good enough. Somehow, he had been overpowered by something much more stronger. Something more powerful and aggressive had beaten down Lucan.

Ben took in a shuttered breath and ran over to Lucan's side. He instantly flung himself to his knees and hovered over Lucan's heaving body, looking for the majorly injured part of his body. The most injured part of his body was his stomach, which was where the assassin must have stabbed him and driven in the blade, twisting it and driving it deeper into the Magister's stomach until he dropped to the ground, giving out a gored cry and pained moans.

That must have been what happened. For sure.

Ben didn't hesitate to place his hands over the Magister's stomach, stopping any more blood from flowing out. Ben could feel the warm, thick blood trying to escape through his fingers, but Ben pressed down hard and made sure to not let much more of the life's blood flow between his fingers.

Ben didn't know what to do. He had never been in a situation like this before. Never before had he had to hold onto a life and try not to let it slip through his clumsy fingers. All he could do was press down on the Magister's stomach and look him in the eye.

The Magister's expression was dimed and hazed, as if he were staring off into space and his eyes were fluid. He seemed to suddenly spark once he saw something out of the corner of his eye, but the spark died down as Ben watched his life slip away.

Ben drew in a sharp breath. "R-Rook! Help! Bring medical supplies! Rook!"

Ben hard muffled breaths and he turned to see Rook behind him, just looming over the doorway. His eyes darted over to the Magister, and then towards Ben. And that must have been the very first time that Ben saw such hesitation from Rook. He showed no fear, though. Nothing. He just stared, as if knowing that the Magister was done for.

Ben then turned back to his advisor and his and Rook's Magister. He stared into his cold, fluid-like eyes for a moment longer, just watching as his life slipped away. Ben loosed his grip on the Magister and just felt himself loosen up, as if admitting defeat. Ben had felt hot tears rolling down his cheeks, but he didn't mind to wipe them away. He just continued to stare into the now dead Magister's eyes.

Ben had sniffled and turned his head back around to Rook, who stood like a statue. His front was facing towards Ben and his face was grim. As Ben looked him over, Ben saw that he had scratches here and there on his face. He was bleeding, but not too badly. The side of his head looked pretty bad, though, as if someone had wacked him right side the head with all their might.

Ben shuttered. "Did ... did you see who the assassin was? Or what they looked like?"

Rook blinked back for a moment, and then shook his head. "No. It all happened so fast."

Ben moved his hands away from the Magister, swallowing. He dared not to look into his eyes ever again. He just continued to stare blankly at his partner. "Are you alright?"

Rook just nodded, then turned away. He didn't even bother saying anything about the body; he just turned to return to the ship's controls.

After that moment, the two had done something that Ben considered to be strange. Perhaps that was the next red flag that something was wrong. Really wrong.

Rook had cleaned himself up, as if the whole thing hadn't happened. In fact, Rook seemed to show no emotion. Normally, when someone had been seriously hurt, Rook would show great concern and even try to calm himself before panicking. After all, he always thought things through before doing them. However, this time around had been different.

Someone had just DIED, and Rook showed no emotion nor did he say anything comforting to Ben. Nothing. All he did was drive the ship and get back to HQ. When they got there, everything seemed normal enough. Grandpa Max greeted the two, asking where Lucan was.

Neither Ben or Rook said anything. Rook stared at Max blankly while Ben seemed to shake in his shoes, glancing left and right, searching for something to say, seeing that Rook wasn't going to speak up. Ben thought that perhaps Rook was just shaken up. Maybe that was why he didn't speak and seemed frozen to the spot.

Yet another red flag.

When neither of the two answered, Max lost his smile and stared at Ben, then at Rook. Rook had done a pretty good job at cleaning himself up, but he wasn't able to cover up the fact that the side of his head was bruised with a little dried blood on the side. Rook hadn't been able to do much about that.

"Rook ...? What happened to you? Where's Magister Lucan?" Max asked in a serious tone, seeing Rook's battle mark.

Rook glanced over at Ben for a second with a cold expression. His eyes stung through Ben's skin like ice.

How many red flags was that? Ben had lost count, but he for sure that Rook's stare was another. Well, it wasn't so much of a stare. Ben blinked back in wonder, seeing that for once in forever Rook was GLARING at him. Never before had Ben seen such a thing. Sure, Rook had looked down on Ben at times with frustrated eyes, but never like this. This was a whole new level for Rook.

However, just as Ben stared back, Rook tore his gaze away from Ben and looked back at Max, his expression changing from still and frustrated to worried and sickly. That was the first time during the whole event that Ben saw Rook showing concern, or even caring about the whole situation. Now, Rook put on what seemed to be his normal concern for such a thing, only now it was worse. Someone had died. DIED.

However, not matter how much Ben wanted to be relieved that Rook was FINALLY reacting in his usual way, he couldn't help a strange feeling as he stared blankly at Rook's face. He wanted to think this was normal for Rook, but he couldn't. His partner's expression wasn't just worried and frightened, but was almost fake. As if he were wearing a mask.

"Sir, I regret to inform you that an assassin had stowed away on board my ship. While we were patrolling through Undertown, the assassin presented himself and attacked Magister Lucan." Rook said with deep concern and pity.

Max's eyes widened. "What? Where is he?"

"In the ship." Rook answered, but didn't say anything about his death.

'What is he doing?!' Ben thought with a scared expression.

'What happened to your head, son?" Max asked, pointing at Rook's wound.

Rook placed his palm on the side of his head, as if just then realizing that it was there. He winced in pain and pulled his hand away, looking long and hard at Max. "I chased the assassin once I caught him attacking Magister Lucan. He ran down to the back holding area, where he not only escaped by intended on leading me there. Just after he escaped, the hold exploded."

"WHAT?!" Ben and Max both cried out at the same time.

This was the first time of Ben hearing about this information. And he had just been in the hold before the explosive had gone off. How had Rook lived? Perhaps the explosion wasn't that big. After all, Ben didn't hear that loud of an explosion coming from the hold. Rook must have gotten beat and thrown to the ground.

Rook continued, though. "Magister was wounded badly. Shortly after the explosion, I found Ben up in the loft with the Magister. It was too late ..."

Rook seemed worried, yet so calm about the whole thing. Something was wrong. For sure.

Max paled, just staring blankly at Rook. He couldn't seem to believe what Rook had just told him. He quickly shook his head, looking back at Rook. "Where is he now?"

"In the loft." Rook mumbled.

Max quickly shoved past the two teens and made his way up onto Rook's ship alone. While the two were alone, Ben turned to Rook, his eyes wide.

"There was a BOMB?! You didn't TELL me?!" Ben cried out.

Rook just shook his head, sadly. "We are Plumbers, Ben. We have seen much worse days, and many other explosions."

"WHAT?!" Ben practically screamed. "One, you didn't tell me there was a bomb that went off, which could have KILLED you. And two, Magister Lucan DIED. How can you be so calm about all of this?!"

Rook stared expressionless at Ben, taking in a deep breath through his nostrils. "Accidents happen, Ben."

An accident. That was how Rook had referred to the whole thing.

But now, coming back to the present, Ben walked along the ridge with water lapping at the stones they walked on. And he now knew that there were no accidents with Rook. Never. The only thing that Ben had never been able to figure out was what had happened. He knew that something had shifted in Rook, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

But Ben wasn't stupid. He knew. He had just been as guilty. Why?

That was a completely different concept, but Ben knew it was true. Rook had made that painfully clear to Ben. It was all his fault. All his fault ...

Off in the distance, Ben heard the wolves howling. They seemed closer then ever, now. This made Ben's stomach turn, but he didn't care. He knew the wolves wouldn't follow him and the others through the rocky and watery ridge. However, they WOULD make it clear to other predators lurking around of the prey that seemed weaker then ever.

And that was what scared Ben the most.

* * *

Off somewhere in the darkness, a Revonnahgander listened carefully to the howling off down by the side of the ridge. He had grown to listen and determine these howls. Rook had learned their ways of doing things and had come to even admire wolves.

He considered the wolves to be something like secret service. Something to tell him of either life or death.

Rook waited patiently in the brush. He was just like a wolf: waiting for his lambs to come to him.

Rook remembered the last time he had been hunched over and waiting like this. It had been about a year ago. It was after Magister Lucan had died, but it was before he had set fire to the ridge, intending to kill Ben.

Ben. The name made Rook snarl in disgust.

'Bastard ...' Rook thought bitterly to himself.

The day that Rook had set fire to the ridge was also the day that he had decided that he had given up. He remembered the day he had tried to kill Ben for the second time, but just like the explosion on his ship, that had failed. Just like the first time, Rook had tried to do it anonymously, but it had failed, yet again. Now, as Rook held Ben and his friends prisoner at Wolfe Ridge, he knew he had to do things differently this time. Sure, he would make a mess of their deaths, but he didn't care.

Just thinking of having Ben's blood on his hands made Rook grin wickedly. Yes. He would slay Ben for REAL this time.

The second time that Rook had tried to kill Ben had failed, too, but that time around he had learned something. He learned that if Ben wasn't going to die, then he was going to be under Rook's control. That would be how Rook would FINALLY kill Ben one day. He would control Ben as if he were Rook's person doll.

Rook remembered everything that had happened as if it had just happened that day. It must have felt that way since Rook had been in a similar situation the day he tried to kill Ben for the second time.

Rook had remembered how he had been waiting out in the brush, waiting for Ben. It had been a dark and damp day in Bellwood. Somewhere down the streets in an alley walked Ben. He was so close to the trap, Rook felt himself becoming more and more excited. Just a few more steps ...

However, that had been when HE showed up. Rook hated this one person. Why? He knew more then Rook could allow. The day that his friend had been murdered by an 'assassin', he had been digging around, looking for this imaginary assassin. However, Rook had never considered that he would trace things back to Rook.

He was more clever then Rook gave him credit for.

"BEN!" he had cried out. This man was no older then Ben, but not quite as old as Rook. He was a human with pale skin and sand colored hair that covered his frightened eyes. He ran closer to Ben through the alley, blocking his way for a moment.

"Vinney?" Ben had blinked in wonder. "What are you-"

"I KNOW Ben." Vinney had snapped before Ben could finish.

Rook's heart dropped to his stomach. No, no, no. This was all wrong. Not now. Not here.

"Wait, what?" Ben mused.

"I know what happened, Ben." Vinney snarled. "It was HIM. He took my best friend away from me! That fucking bastard ..."

"Wait, wait, WAIT." Ben said, waving his hands in front on him. "WHO did WHAT?"

Rook felt his heart beat faster and faster. Oh, God. It was all over. Vinney was going to tell Ben and Ben would know the truth. Rook HAD to do something. But what?

"It was that bastard partner of yours!" Vinney growled, his eyes flaring with pure anger. "HE did it! There never was an 'assassin'."

Ben seemed to click everything together. Well, kind of. He just figured out that Vinney was talking about Rook. And in a completely foul way. He glared at Vinney, his eyes burning. "ROOK didn't DO anything! Now, don't you DARE go around and making accusations against him!"

"YOU'RE PROTECTING THAT MURDERER?!" Vinney cried out. "Ben! He KILLED my best friend, and then had the edacity to play everything off!"

Ben blinked in horror at Vinney's words. He didn't believe them, but it made him frightened nevertheless. "W-what?! How could you say such a horrible thing?! I've heard people say some mean things to Rook after the incident, but NO ONE has EVER called him a MURDERER!"

Rook grinned, feeling his unease rise a little. So, Ben didn't believe the truth? Fine by Rook. He just stared from the darkness, seeing what would happen next.

"Oh my god." Vinney gasped, his eyes growing huge and taking a dangerous step back. "You ... you helped him!"

Ben snarled in disgust. "Fuck off Vinney. What happened, happened. It was an ACCIDENT. Get over the stupid thing and move on! Of ALL the people you could suspect of EVER doing something so horrible ... why Rook? You need HELP Vinney."

Vinney snarled, as if he were looking into the green eyes of Satin. "You and Rook are the ones that need help! You both need to be locked away until you rot in fucking prison! You two PLANNED this!"

Vinney just then seemed to notice that he was alone in an alley with Ben. He felt frightened for a moment, but he was more enraged then scared.

"STOP!" Ben screamed, feeling his eyes starting to tear up. He had tried everything to forget Lucan's cold, dead eyes. But everything seemed to rush back at him once Vinney was screaming at Ben. He felt his heart ach, but he also felt his blood beginning to boil from unknown frustration. "STOP IT!"

"Why should I?!" Vinney cried out. "You're a MURDERER!"

"NO. I'M. NOT!" Ben screamed as he shoved Vinney a good foot back.

Rook grinned from his hiding place. Perfect. Just ... perfect. Perhaps it was just a stroke of luck that the sharp looking teen had showed up. This was just a wonderful day, after all. Just a few more steps back ...

Vinney seemed frightened for a moment, but he stood his ground. "Lucan is DEAD because of you! You killed my best friend! You're no hero ... you just wanted Lucan's power!"

Ben had had enough. He felt enraged, but also frightened. He didn't know what had come over him in that moment. He leapt forward and shoved Vinney. Hard.

Stumbling back, Vinney gave a frightened scream before he hit an invisible trip string. He fell backwards, slowly falling to the ground. Ben's eyes widened in shock as he reached out to grab the older male's shirt, but missed his chance as Vinney hit the ground with a sickening crunch. His head hit the pavement hard.

And even though Ben hadn't seen it, the wire had pulled back from being tripped, activating whatever had been positioned on the roof. Rook watched with a sickening interest as cinder blocks stacked on top of the roof top were pulled down, landing on top of Vinney. There was another sickening crunching noise, but this only made Rook's smile grow.

Ben stood in horror, taking a step back and scanning the area. As far as he knew, no one else had seen. He stared down at Vinney's body, and then turned to sprint away. He didn't know what had made him do so, but he felt more frightened then ever. Vinney as DEAD. And it was all his fault ...

Later that night, Ben had been walking towards his car, intending on driving home and sleeping for a whole week. He fumbled with his keys, his hands shaking. He drew in shuttered and scared breaths, not being able to pick out the right key.

However, a rustling noise behind him made Ben turn around quickly, pressing his back to the frame of the car. His heart felt as if it were going to beat out of his chest.

Ben blinked in wonder. Rook stood before him, his eyes locked on Ben's. And Rook was ... smiling.

Ben tried to straighten himself up as he blankly stared at his partner. "Oh ... R-Rook ... it's just you."

"Ah, yes." Rook hummed in a sing-song voice. "Just little, innocent Rook. Who would ever think of calling me a murderer?"

Ben froze in complete horror. Rook ... knew? Ben felt his heart just about jump out of his chest.

"R-Rook ... it isn't what you think ...!" Ben tried desperately.

Rook just gave a wicked grin. "No? So, you DIDN'T just kill Vinney?"

"N-NO!" Ben cried out. He looked left and right, seeing that he and Rook were alone. "I mean ... it was an accident!"

Rook just chuckled and shook his head. "There are no accidents, Ben."

Ben swallowed a hard lump in his throat. "Rook ... please don't tell ..."

Rook just gave a sneer as he looked at Ben with burning eyes. "Sure. No problem. As long as you keep MY secret."

"Your ... secret?" Ben mused.

Rook walked even closer to Ben, placing his hand on the side of Ben's car as he leaned in to whisper beside Ben's ear. "I killed Lucan ..."

Ben froze. Everything that Vinney had said was true. Well, almost everything. Ben hadn't killed Lucan. Rook had.

"The ... but the explosion ...!" Ben whispered under his breath.

Rook chuckled, pulling away, but still whispering. "You were in the wrong place and the wrong time."

And that was when Ben realized it. Rook had killed Lucan, and if Ben had stayed in the back where the crates were (the place that Rook had told Ben to find Magister Lucan), then Ben would have DIED. Rook had never gone into the room. He had just been frustrated to see that Ben wasn't in there when the explosive had gone off.

'Rook tried to kill me ...' Ben thought to himself.

Looking into the hungry eyes of his partner, Ben knew there and then that Rook had Ben under his control. Even if Ben knew Rook's secret, he knew that Rook had much more power then Ben.

For once, Ben felt deeply frightened of his partner.

Sitting in the bushes by the ridge, Rook grinned to himself just as he had the day that Ben 'killed' Vinney. He grumbled some words to himself, thinking of how much longer until Ben came.

"Come to me, my little lamb ..."

* * *

_This chapter is MUCH longer then the others. Oh, well. It had to be done._

_I own Vinney, obviously. He's just a character I made on the spot to add effect to the story._

_Hopefully this is the last chapter with flashbacks in it. The rest of the story should be gore and awesomeness. I know I said that this chapter was going to have lots of gore in it and it was going to be the climax of the story, but I guess I've put it off for the next chapter. Like I said, this chapter had to be done._

_((I OWN THIS FAN FICTION AND ALL THE IDEAS AND OCs I PUT INTO IT. THIS IS COPYRIGHT RED WOLF PRODUCTIONS))_


	14. Separation

**WARNING: This chapter contain violence/gore and strong language.**

Chapter 14 - Separation

Taking in a deep and sounded breath, Ben took his first brave steps into the unknown. He knew that there was always the possibility that he was leading the others to potential doom, but he knew that this was the only way they would get to the Ranger's Station. If they went any other way, it would take too long, and it would be a cake walk for Rook to pick them off one by one. So, this was the best choice. Hopefully.

Ben also knew that there was a great change that someone would slip up on the wet rocks and get hurt, but he was mostly planning on taking the shortest route, which was through the dark, long caves. A part of Ben screamed that this was a horrible, horrible idea, but he shook these little thoughts of reason aside. He knew that they needed to get to the Ranger's Station and just pray that there was someone there.

As the sun set and Ben lead the others closer and closer to the ridge's lead off, he would often glance down at his wrist where the omnitrix clung. He kept seeing the same thing, though. He saw that his watch continued to blare a bright yellow. Ben would fiddle with his watch when he felt nervous (which was all the time), but he knew that his watch wasn't going to work. Why was it acting like this? Ben didn't know, but he did know that without the power of his omnitrix, they would be doomed.

Everyone else knew this, too. They knew that even though Ben was the one leading them towards safety, he was also the one that would lead them closer and closer towards their demise.

* * *

Rook sat silently on top of the rocky slope. His figure was covered by darkness, his clothes clinging to his skin. When was the last time he washed his clothes? Or had taken a bath for that matter?

A long time. That's how long. Rook knew that the lake was right at his fingertips, but he also knew to NEVER step foot in the deep, dark, and dangerous waters. He had seen this the first day he sunk to the bottom of the lake. His life seemed to flash before his eyes. There was flames. Flames everywhere. He didn't know how, but he saw flames even under the water.

As Rook had lied there at the rocky bottom, seeping lower and lower down into the seaweed and plants, he saw what had happened. He had failed. FAILED. He failed in killing Ben for the THIRD time.

His first attempt had been ruined when Ben hadn't been in the hold when the explosive he set had gone off. His second time had been ruined when the snappy teen, Vinney, he appeared and taken Ben's fall. His third attempt, the attempt that Rook thought would work, had fallen just like the others. The only difference was that this time around, he had taken the fall, as well.

The day that Rook set fire to the ridge and had lost whatever sanity he had left was the day he became enraged. He had never once felt this much hatred towards someone before. He knew what he wanted. No longer did he want Ben under his power. He wanted him DEAD. He was meant to be the one with a blade to the neck and sinking down to the bottom of the lake.

Instead, Rook got a flamed branch to the face and a watery death bed. Only, Rook wouldn't accept this. No. He would NOT die. He would live, and he would live to see the day that his partner paid for what he had done.

Rook had still felt enraged in the time he spent in the ridge, though. He became more and more angry by the day knowing that he was trapped on this ridge with no one to have as company besides the many wolves and the people who entered the ridge looking to have a good time.

At first, Rook had only felt this hate towards Ben. He left the other people alone, hiding out in the caves above the ridge, but as his hate grew into something much more deadly. Rook had began to feel even more hatred, but now it was aimed towards anyone that was free.

Rook knew what being free was. It was ANYTHING besides being locked away in this forest he called 'home'. It was the same for the wolves, though. Even though they had each other and were born in this forest, they were trapped, as well. They could never leave the ridge, and neither could Rook.

Rook felt as though the only was to dull this pain he felt was towards the others that entered the ridge was to take away their freedom. If he was trapped in the ridge, then why not the others? They were free to live and they were free to leave the ridge.

Rook had then and there decided that these newcomers didn't DESERVE to be free. And they didn't deserve to even live. Now, he would trap them here, as well. Only, they wouldn't be breathing like Rook could. They wouldn't be able to walk the ridge or feel the elements of life. Instead, they would be trapped in the lake, their souls left over to suffer. Something that had at first been intended for Rook.

Now, Rook had slayed just about any person to enter the ridge. He would enjoy having their blood on his hands, and he would enjoy dumping their bodies into the lake. As time went by, though, he began to become more and more nasty. At first, Rook had done simple things such as slipping in the knife or cracking their skulls, but that had changed. Rook found 'better' ways of killing his prey. He would experiment to see how far a person could run along the rocky slopes and would have fun in stalking his frightened prey.

Over time, police and S.W.A.T. teams had secretly entered the ridge, trying to find the cause of these deaths. Only, they found nothing. The search for the truth had been cut off when they discovered one of their officer's body floating in the lake and his head bashed in.

A warning.

That was when everyone investigating the case were ordered to give up. They closed the camping sites and had ordered for the place to be under lock down. However, just like Ben and his friends, others had entered and camped there, nevertheless. And since the case had been dropped, Rook was free to 'experiment' with his sweet prey.

The day before Ben and his friends arrived at Wolfe Ridge looking to have a wonderful week on their 'spring break', Rook had had a dream. It was the same dream he had before others would show up at his ridge. It was of water and flames. There were the voices at the bottom of the lake, muttering and moaning as they suffered.

However, this time around had been different. The voices mumbled and moaned to themselves, but this time Rook had been able to make out whatever they were saying. They said the same word over and over again.

"Revenge ... revenge ..." they moaned and cried out.

Rook had woken up from that dream, having a sick grin on his face. He didn't know it was going to be Ben, but he had that 'feeling'. He had been waiting for an entire year for his revenge, and now he could have that.

Oh, yes. Revenge was so bitter sweet.

* * *

Ghetto walked closely behind the others. He even walked further behind then Tack and Maya. Maya tried to look confident and strong, but her shoulders hunched and she pressed closely to her friend, Tack. Like usual, her eyes darted left and right as she looked for any danger. Now, Ghetto could swear he heard her faint heartbeat growing louder and louder as they walked more into the darkness.

Ghetto felt a strange prescience, as if someone was staring at them from a far off distance. Ghetto wouldn't be surprised if someone was. However, he couldn't quite figure out if it was the wolves stalking them, or if it was Rook somewhere in the brush. Ghetto didn't care enough to think about it, though. He knew perfectly well that things were about to change.

Ghetto stayed behind and kept quiet, knowing what was to come. He just didn't want to say so to the others. Although Ghetto would only hear the voices when he slept, he was starting to hear them even when he was walking up right. Perhaps he WAS sleeping. Maybe this was all just a dream and he was thinking about going through the dark caves. However, after hours of walking non stop, Ghetto knew that this was all too real.

He couldn't stop what was about to happen. And he couldn't stop the voices from telling him over and over.

"Revenge ... revenge ..."

* * *

The night grew on as the group finally made their way into the shallow edges. Water lapped at their feet. It was cold, but they didn't feel it that much. By now, everyone's feet were numb and couldn't feel any cold. However, everyone but Ghetto shivered.

Ben suddenly became jealous of Ghetto. Lucky fish-boy ...

Gunnar, who had been silent for hours, began to fidget. And not just because he was freezing just like the others, but because he was becoming paranoid. Normally, Gunnar was a guy to always make bold statements and never loose his cool, but for some reason (besides the fact that they were being hunted down as prey) Gunnar was beginning to twitch. He kept looking down into the water, his gaze shifting left and right nervously.

Ghetto, who still trekked behind the group, was perfectly calm. Strange. All of this pressure had cracked Gunnar, yet Ghetto was his perfectly calm self. Ben found this to be strange, making him turn his head behind him to get a quick glimpse of his fish friend. Ghetto still looked calm, not even looking down into the dark waters. His attention was focused forward.

In fact, Ghetto seemed to be the only calm one that hadn't cracked, yet. Well, he had cracked at one point, but he quickly regained himself and was acting like his normal self.

'How can he do that?' Ben thought sourly to himself.

'Revenge ...'

Ben winced at the voice in his head. It didn't sound like Rook's, though. This voice was different. It was an unnatural and demonic sounding voice. He thought that perhaps he had heard wrong, but then the voice piped up, again.

'Revenge is coming ...'

Ben swallowed a hard lump. Revenge was coming? Alright. Bring it.

* * *

Everyone walked past the narrow edge on the ridge and made their way into the first dark cave. Ben became worried that he wouldn't be able to tell which direction they were going in, but then he remembered that the caves had sky lights so that they could see the moon above them. So long as Ben could up to see the stars, he knew that they would be able to find their way to the Ranger's Station.

Ben sighed, then realized something even more strange then Ghetto's calmness. Everything was quiet. Completely quiet. The only thing that could be heard was their wet footsteps and the water lapping at the edges of the caves, leading right down to the middle of the lake.

Ben wasn't the only one who noticed this, though. He saw that the others were fidgeting at the unnatural silence. Not even the crickets outside could be heard. Nothing.

However, after a while of walking in almost complete darkness and silence, there came a cry. It wasn't just any cry, though. It was that of a wolf's. At first, all that could be heard was the cry or yip of some wolf, but then everyone heard the other wolves beginning to cry and howl together.

Tack looked behind him, nervous. "Are they going to follow up in the caves?"

Gwen shook her head, her hand clasped tightly to Kevin's. "No. They wouldn't come into the wet caves even if we were the only pieces of meat left."

"Then why are they howling?" Kevin whispered.

No one answered. Everyone felt as if they knew the answer, yet didn't want to believe it. However, Ben knew something was completely wrong. Something wasn't right. No, no, no. The wolves where howling. And Ben knew why.

They smelled blood.

Maya took in a shuttered breath, speaking for once in forever. "They don't call this Wolfe Ridge for nothing ..."

Ben's heart thudded heard in his chest. So, this was it? This was where they were either given life or death. And this was where Ben figured out the truth.

Sure, Rook was insane now, but Ben still knew that there was some things that never changed about the older teen. He had always been a person to point out the truth, or what he thought of his way, and Ben knew that before anything was decided, Rook would spill himself.

Ben would find out what had been eating him from the inside out for years. Today, he would find out the truth.

* * *

"Stay close together." Ben said loudly.

The caves had become even darker, now. And Ben knew that there were other caves that lead off into the lake, and he didn't want the others to get lost or to split up.

Instead, Ben knew that they were to all stay together if they were to survive. However, that hadn't lasted for long.

There was a loud sloshing sound as water began to spill into the caves from below. The rocks alone were slippery, but with water up to everyone's ankles, it was nearly impossible to walk.

Gwen started to slip, but reached out to grab her boyfriend's arm for support. However, Kevin was already starting slip, too. Instead, he slipped off to a different angle. Ben turned to see the two falling apart. Kevin slipped and landed hard on his slide, but Gwen landed hard on her hands and knees. Gwen got lucky, but Kevin wasn't as lucky as she was.

Sliding down to the side, Kevin felt even more water rush in from the sides, covering his whole side and face with water. He tried to sit up to breathe, but the water held onto him tightly, as if invisible fingers reached to hold him firmly. As he slipped and tried to breathe, Kevin was quickly swept away and tugged down to the edge of the cave.

Fearing that his friend was going to be sucked into the lake and drown, Ben reached out and tried to grab his shirt before he slid off any further, but Ben was too late. Kevin disappeared under the rim of the cave.

And Kevin wasn't the only one. The others fell to the hard ground. All but Ben.

Ben didn't understand. He didn't feel himself slipping, yet his friends fell to the rocky ground and started sweeping away in all different directions as if something was dragging them under. This wasn't right. Something was wrong. Really wrong.

"No!" Ben cried out, realizing that they were all being split up.

It was too late, though. Everyone had either disappeared under the rim of the cave or were dragged off into the unknown. Ben just stood in the complete silence and darkness, alone. Suddenly, the water stopped rising and fell back down to it's original level.

Ben's heart beat in his chest. He was completely alone.

Another howl sounded off in the distance, and for some weird reason, Ben felt as if he was standing next to someone he shouldn't be. He didn't bother looking over his shoulder, though. This wasn't Rook. Somehow, Ben knew. This was someone else.

And he knew he wasn't going to like what he saw.

* * *

Kevin felt his mouth and throat filling up with freezing water. He thrashed around desperately searching for the surface, but he wasn't able to see anything in the black water. He felt his lungs screaming for air, but Kevin couldn't seem to find it.

However, after a while of thrashing around, Kevin finally broke the surface. He gasped for air, coughing violently. His long, raven hair covered his face. He quickly felt something hard bump his knees, and he knew that he was in another cave.

Struggling to his feet, Kevin shook his head and opened his eyes that stung. Then he saw that he was in a small cave with sharp rocks sticking out at just about every angle. He saw that there was light in this cave, though. There was an opening up at the roof of the cave, letting in moonlight.

Sighing, Kevin coughed once more before getting to a dry spot in the cave. Water didn't flood this cave, but Kevin knew that he was in trouble. He was alone and in a strange cave.

Kevin scanned the area, looking for a way out, but then saw something else. There seemed to be a tall and dark figure standing up on one of the higher ledges. Kevin stared for a moment, trying to see what it could be, but then forgot to breathe once he saw the figure MOVING.

Kevin's eyesight adjusted faintly as he stared harder at the figure, taking a step back. He then saw the figure move over and casually walk into the moonlight. Kevin drew in a shuttered breath, feeling himself gasp.

Rook.

Kevin knew what Rook looked like, but he almost didn't recognize this person. Instead of wearing armor, he wore a grey hoodie and jeans that were wet all the way up to his knees.

Instinctively, Kevin reached over to the rock nearest to him, absorbing it's energy. At this, Rook leaned on the side of the rocky ledge and crossed his arms, chuckling.

"You afraid or me, Kevin?" he said in a deep, calm voice.

Kevin screwed up his face, making it clear that he was more enraged then frightened. "Why would I be afraid of YOU?"

Rook just gave another low, sick chuckle. "Well, I just killed a couple of your friends, and I'm about to finish off Ben, so why not?"

Kevin snarled at Rook, becoming even more angry. "YOU STAY AWAY FROM BEN AND THE OTHERS!"

Rook now laughed. His black mask that covered his face hid his expression, but Kevin almost didn't want to see it. "Sorry, but that's not the plan."

"What 'plan'?" Kevin growled, taking another step back.

"The simple plan." Rook chuckled. "I finish off you for kicks, and then I see what I can do to torture the rest of you before I pay my old partner a visit."

"I'd like to see you TRY." Kevin shouted, trying not to show any fear.

But Rook just chuckled as he moved down the side of the ledge, slowly making his way towards the level Kevin was on. "Come now, Kevin. I've lived with nothing but wolves for a YEAR. Don't try hiding it. I can SMELL your fear. And trust me, it reeks."

Kevin suddenly shivered. Not just because he was cold, but because he suddenly feared Rook more then ever.

"We're going to have a party in here, Kevin." Rook said, rolling Kevin's name as if it was something tasty. "You never did believe in me, did you?"

"W-what?" Kevin stammered, taking another step back as Rook made his way down to the ground.

"You see, you never thought of me as much for Ben's partner. I was always weak, stupid Rook. Am I right, Kevin? Is that what you thought of me? I guess I didn't ever have the right stuff to be a Plumber, right?"

Kevin screwed up his face, not backing down. "You're sick, Rook."

"Yeah. I am, I guess." Rook chuckled, landing on the ground with a thump. "I've always been sick, but only now am I getting my cure. And once you're done for, I'll see to it that Ben finds his girlfriend."

"What did you do to Julie?" Kevin half growled and half whimpered.

"The same as I'm about to do to you." Rook growled. "And as long as Ben has that old badge, there's nothing he can do about this ..."

Kevin didn't say anything else; he just held his ground and thought things over. The badge ... what did Rook mean? Kevin just shook his head, not caring anymore. All he knew was that he had to bring this bastard down.

"So ... how are we going to do this?" Rook chuckled. "Remember, Kevin, I don't have powers."

"Fine by me." Kevin growled. "That just makes it all the more easier."

Rook just sighed. "Alright. If you're so tough, show me what you've got."

Kevin snarled in rage. Leaping forward with a fisted hand made of rock, Kevin hit Rook square in the jaw, knocking him off his feet and skidding across the smooth stone. He lied there for a moment, but that gave Kevin enough time to see that as Rook lied in the shadows, Kevin had knocked off his mask. Down at his feet was the black, shinny mask.

Kevin was confused as to why Rook was wearing a mask, but once he looked back to see Rook getting to his feet and standing in the moonlight, Kevin took a step back, his heart skipping a beat.

This wasn't Rook. This was MONSTER.

Seeing Ben's expression, Rook gave a wicked and wolfish grin. The entire side of his face was burned, showing dark, red flesh. The skin around the edge of his lip was torn back, as if the flames had eaten away at this cheek flesh. What frightened Kevin the most, though, was his eye on the burned side of his face. Whereas one eye was a bright yellow, the other on the burned side was a dark red, as if it had been burned and grew back as something demonic looking. His eye was red, but there was an even darker red slit where his pupil should have been.

"What's the matter, Kevin? You look like you've seen a monster." Rook growled, his eyes pinning hatefully on Kevin. When he grinned, his lips on the burned side of his face pulled back, making the flesh pull and ripple. This made Kevin feel as if he were going to throw up.

"Your dog put up more of a fight then you ..." Rook taunted.

Kevin gave a raged cry, not looking at Rook's face. He launched himself forward at Rook, but this time Rook was ready. He dodged out of the way as if he were as fluid as water and as quick as flames. Once Kevin felt a heavy force whack him on the side of the head, Kevin cried out in fright, feeling as if Rook's touch BURNED.

Kevin stumbled back, but quickly regained himself. His eyes blazed in anger. Now it was his turn to get some revenge. His threw his fist out at Rook, but his arm was caught by Rook as he swung Kevin around as if he were a dancer.

Kevin knew that Rook was just playing with him. And this made him suddenly become frightened.

Rook saw this flash of sudden fear, and fed off it. He quickly rushed forward and grasped Kevin by the shoulders. He quickly drove himself backwards, as if to knock Kevin to the ground, but instead drove him back to the wall.

Kevin cried out a pained streak, feeling something stab into his back. However, Kevin knew what it was. And he knew that he was in trouble.

Rook gave a wicked grin, being face to face with his partner's friend. He stared into Kevin's dying eyes, watching as his soul left. This was what Rook had enjoyed. He loved to just watch his prey suffer as they died in his grasp. Pushing Kevin's body harder into the sharp rocks, Rook saw a trickle of blood drip down the side of Kevin's mouth. His eyes went blank.

Rook let go of Kevin's shoulders and looked at his artwork. Three, sharp rocks stuck out of Kevin's body, blood dripping all over the stone ground. His head hung down, going completely limp.

Rook gave a sigh of pity. "Revenge must be a real bitch ..."

* * *

_Alright. Here we are, I guess. I decided on making these chapters this long from now on. Besides, this story is almost over. Just a couple more chapters. Maybe around three or so._

_What's behind Ben?_

_What does Rook mean by Ben having his badge?_

_Will Ben EVER know the truth about Vinney?_

_Questions, questions. Just calm yourself and wait for the next chapter._

_I think I'll be updating this story much more often until it's completely finished. I can feel as if this is almost over, and I just want to get to the good stuff. I know how I want to end this, and it's making me pretty excited to write._

_((I OWN THIS FAN FICTION AND ALL THE IDEAS AND OCs I PUT INTO IT. THIS IS COPYRIGHT RED WOLF PRODUCTIONS))_


	15. Forget

Chapter 15 – Forget

Long before things had ever changed, when things used to be nothing but wonderful, Ben had been in the park with Rook, his partner and best friend. Rook had been completely new to the meaning of human life, and he was only starting to wonder about human death.

"Ben?" Rook had asked that day. "What happens ... when you die?"

Ben had thought for a moment, but then he had answered. "You forget everything."

"Everything?" Rook had mused.

"Yes. Everything." Ben said calmly, trying not to sound too serious. "You will forget the remains of what you used to have."

"Even my family? My home? Even ... you?" Rook asked, sounding extremely interested and curious.

Ben had nodded, trying to crack a smile. "Someone once told me the same thing. They said, 'You will forget everything, even the remains of what you once had. You don't want to die. And how could I ever forget, what we once had?'"

Rook was silent for a while, but then he slowly turned to Ben, his eyes full of wonder and question. "This is the theory of reincarnation? So this is why you are reborn, and yet never know anything of your past life?"

"I guess so." Ben shrugged. "I didn't quite understand it, either. I still don't understand how someone could be reborn, and never remember anything. I mean, how could you forget all the things that happened in your life?"

"Perhaps people forget when they die because they don't want to remember?"

Ben seemed confused, but he thought his friend's words over for a few moments. "Like ... a fresh start?"

Rook smiled and nodded. Then, his expression turned serious. "Ben? What if you don't want to die? And what if you don't want to forget?"

Ben thought this over, and then shrugged. "I don't know. But you can't stop death, Rook. Everything dies eventually. And eventually, you will forget."

* * *

Sitting by the light of the cave pool, Rook felt something strange in his chest. He felt as if his ice heart was melting, hurting his insides. Rook stared into the water, looking at his own reflection. He saw his mangled face, and began to think of how he had changed. Rook couldn't remember the last time he had seen his reflection, or the last time he really thought about things.

Suddenly, something dropped into the water, sending ripples across the water. Rook stared at the water for a moment, realizing that it was the blood from his hands spilling into the pool. He hadn't realized through all his thinking that his hands were starting to dip into the water. Rook watched as the blood slowly spread through the water, covering his clear image with tainted, human blood.

Rook wasn't sure why he had remembered that day in the park with Ben. He could have remembered anything else, yet he chose to remember that specific day. He had remembered their conversation about death and about forgetting.

Rook knew what had happened at the ridge that one, horrible day. He hadn't died, and he hadn't wanted to. There was too much rage and ice in his heart for him to die, and he didn't want to forget. No matter how tough things were and no matter how screwed up his life had become, Rook had for some reason lived, not wanting to ever forget.

The feeling of ice melting had suddenly stopped as Rook stared at his blood-stained hands. This feeling wasn't his heart melting. This feeling was his heart turning from ice to stone. He clenched his hands, a low growl rising in his chest. He didn't want to forget, but even if he did, he could never forget. He couldn't ever forget the hatred and the hurt. And he couldn't ever forget the day he had fought death and decided he never wanted to forget. He wanted to remember forever.

Yet, Rook suddenly felt as if forever was longer then he expected.

* * *

_This is the first chapter done in a while without the mature content warning. This one is much shorter then the other ones, but I sort of wanted to do this before continuing with the main plot of the story._

_((I OWN THIS FAN FICTION AND ALL THE IDEAS AND OCs I PUT INTO IT. THIS IS COPYRIGHT RED WOLF PRODUCTIONS))_


	16. Ready?

**WARNING: This chapter contains nudity, violence/gore, and strong language.**

Chapter 16 – Ready?

Water was just natural to Ghetto. He could both breathe air and water, so going under the cave walls wasn't anything really frightening to him. After all, the voices had already told him of what was to come. He knew that everyone was going to be forcefully separated so that everything could fall into place, but he didn't think that things could turn out like this.

When the water had swept in and dragged everyone away, Ghetto had seen something that no one else had. He had seen the invisible figures moving about, grabbing and pulling at the others and dragging them off. This was how they had planned to finish things. They wanted to get everyone away from Ben so Rook could pick them off one by one. Then, Rook would have Ben all to himself.

The difference between Ben and Ghetto was that Ghetto heard the voices clear as day while he was sleeping, or just near the water, but Ben heard just the one voice in his head all the time. Ghetto had only started hearing the dead when he had the encounter while down at the bottom of the lake, thinking he saw fire and bones. Ben, on the other hand, heard this voice in his head ever since Rook had 'died'. This voice was something not truly there. It was just paranoia, something false, but Ghetto's voices were all too real.

Ghetto was told by these voices that Ben was just confused and misguided, but he was destined for whatever was to come. He may have seemed to be going insane, just like Rook, but Ben was far from insane. Rook was already long gone, but Ben was just slowly starting to slip away. Ghetto had wanted to tell Ben this, just to ease his friend's worry and concern, but Ghetto thought against it. If he told Ben, there would be questions. Ghetto wasn't prepared to tell any of his friends about the voices, let alone about the souls at the bottom of the lake that whispered secrets.

Still, the voices told Ghetto that he was special. He was allowed to have a choice.

'A choice?' he had asked.

'Yes.' they had answered once in his dreams.

'What kind of choice?'

'A choice of fate.' they answered.

In his dreams, the dead were always dancing. They seemed to just be shadows in the deep, dark waters, but they would always be dancing. They would sometimes dance of sorrow, and sometimes of joy, but they would always have some sort of rhythm going on. Ghetto had wanted to dance with them, but he knew that he would have to wait before he could. He would just have to wait ...

'You'll have a choice ...' they whispered.

Ghetto at first didn't understand what they meant, but as he drifted through the cold, dark water, he started hearing the voices, again. They were all muffled and unclear. He couldn't exactly hear them right, but he knew they were there. He allowed himself just to drift in the water, listening. He didn't know where he was drifting or when he would surface, but he didn't care.

Suddenly, a voice whispered clearly above all the others, making the hairs on the back of Ghetto's neck stand on end. 'Choose.'

Ghetto's eyes shot open as he scanned his surroundings. He at first was surprised to see that he was already close to the surface. The moon shone brightly above and beckoned the teen. Yet, there was another direction. There was down. Ghetto stared down into the deep to see shadows moving about. His eyes widened to see they were ... dancing. A part of Ghetto longed to finally dance with them, just like he knew he would end up doing.

Yet, Ghetto knew he was forgetting something. He looked forward in between the light and dark to see something ... floating. He just about stopped breathing in the water when he saw it was a body. Yet, this wasn't a dead body. It was just drifting down, as if it was fate for this person to dance with the shadows, too. Yet, Ghetto saw who this person was and knew what he had to do. He had to choose to either dance for eternity with the shadows and bring this person with him, or surface back to the living along with this drifter.

The answer was so clear, though. He wanted so badly to just dance freely with those spirits looking so happy, but he knew better. He couldn't be selfish. Plus, he knew deep down that these others weren't free. They were trapped and were far from happy. They wouldn't ever be happy until they saw their killer brought to his knees.

They wouldn't be satisfied until they saw revenge.

Swimming forward in a quick lurch, Ghetto wrapped both his long arms around the person who he saw to be Gwen, hoping to dear God that she was still alright. He began swinging up towards the surface, towards the moonlight. Soon enough, both Ghetto and Gwen hit the surface, Ghetto gasping for air, but not really needing it. He scanned frantically for land of any kind. Thankfully, there was a sandy, boulder beach not too far away. The caves were just next to it.

Ghetto swam in long strokes, holding Gwen to his side tightly. He kept her head above the water, hoping he made the right choice.

Once they got to the shore, Ghetto wasted no time in hauling Gwen to the sandy shore and lying her down. He pressed his head to her chest, seeing if she still had a heart beat. Thankfully, she did. He lifted his ear to her mouth, hearing that she was breathing, too. He sat on his knees for a moment, thinking of what to do. He looked around, hearing another wolf howl. He chose to ignore it, though.

Looking down at the still body, Ghetto stared at Gwen's parted lips. He crinkled his nose, but then decided it needed to be done. He pinched her nose with one hand and grabbed her chin lightly with his other, pulling his lips further apart. Bending over, Ghetto was nearly close enough to press his lips against hers, but he quickly let go and pulled away when Gwen suddenly coughed and spit up salt water.

Gwen no longer wore her square glasses, seeing that they must have been washed away. Her short, red hair was drenched, along with her clothes. Ghetto looked down at his friend, wondering if he did the right thing. Perhaps drowning would have been a better death for the girl instead of being murdered by Rook.

'I really fucked up ...'

* * *

Ben wanted to throw up at that moment. No. Scratch that. He needed to throw up more then anything. He had at first held it in, but he couldn't help himself from bending over the wet floor and vomiting. He had seen pretty horrible things since he came to the ridge, but nothing like this. Looking over at the wall, Ben felt hot tears rolling down his face. Julie had been his girlfriend, but they had slowly been growing apart over time. Something had told Ben that they weren't going to work out as a couple, but Julie was still his good friend. In a way, he loved her. The sight before him just made him cringe and want to be angry, disgusted, frightened, and saddened all at once.

Julie was stripped down to wearing absolutely nothing, pinned against the stone wall. Quills held down her arms, staining her body red. Her stomach had writing on it, as if someone had taken a blade and used it to write. On her stomach was the single word, 'SLUT'. Her face was beaten and bruised, as if she had been beaten and drowned to death. Some of her hair was missing, making Ben think that she must have been dragged by her hair at some point. In fact, most of her bare body was broken and beaten. Ben had never been so sorry for another person.

'She didn't deserve this.' Ben thought, still feeling the hot tears rolling down his face.

'You're right.' the voice in his head hissed at Ben. 'She didn't deserve to pay for your sins.'

Looking closer for a moment, Ben saw that her neck was bright red and strangled, like she had been strangled or hung at some point. Her death had been long and painful. Ben felt more angry then anything at this moment. The tears kept coming, though. It wasn't just Julie, though. It was his other friend that lied at her feet, stripped of all his quills.

Argit was shirtless, his entire torso blooded, as if he were skinned alive. He still wore pants, but they were blood stained. What made Ben even more sick was the fact that the blood was fresh, blood seeping down the wall and between the cracks of the rocks.

'Still think this was a good idea?' the voice snickered, sounding all too much like Rook's.

Ben grew to hate that voice. Not just the one in his head, but just the sound of Rook's voice. He hated both of them. He even hated himself. Why? Why would he do this to his friends? Why would he lead them to their death? Why would he let Rook do this? Why would that sick bastard ever even THINK of doing something so horrible to his friends? What ever happened to Rook? Was he ever at any point a good guy?

'I guess you misjudged.' the voice chimed in, sounding as smart-assed as Ben.

What made Ben's heart just about stop beating, though, was the sound echoing off the walls of the caves. This time the sound wasn't howling from wolves, but instead the sound of something man-made. The sound was nerve racking and made Ben want to scream.

The horrible, sick sound of a chainsaw drifted through the caves. Ben couldn't tell from where it was coming, but he knew that Rook was near. Rook was just playing him, teasing him and letting him know what was to come.

'Hope you're ready, Ten.' the voice growled.

"No." Ben answered out loud. "No, I'm not."

* * *

_I was originally going to make this chapter shorter then it already is, but I decided to make it longer because 'what the hay?'._

_Anyway, I guess you get to find out what happened to Julie and Argit. Yeah, Julie isn't exactly my favorite character. She's strong and has a great personality, but I've seen better in the show. Don't think that I hate her because of this chapter, but I don't exactly love her, either. HOWEVER, for those who ship BRoken (Ben x Rook), then I guess you could say that this chapter is anti Ben x Julie, seeing that Rook called her a 'slut'. :3_

_**((I shamelessly ship Ben and Rook. NO REGRETS**__.__**))**_

_((I OWN THIS FAN FICTION AND ALL THE IDEAS AND OCs I PUT INTO IT. THIS IS COPYRIGHT RED WOLF PRODUCTIONS))_


	17. Dangerous Toys

Chapter 17 – Dangerous Toys

What was better then knowing that your prey was shaken up? Rook could think of plenty of other things, but nothing else came to mind at the moment. He loved scaring his prey, though. Well, he at the time was just testing out his new 'toy', but he knew perfectly well that the horrible sounds would be echoing off the sides of the cave walls. And he knew perfectly well that Ben would be able to hear it.

Holding the heavy object closely to his chest, Rook walked down the dark caverns with purpose. He knew where he was going. He'd walked these caves many times over. It was a shame that he would have to destroy them afterwards, but he didn't really care at the moment. After all, they were now tainted with these people's blood. In the end, he was bound to have to destroy the caves. He would make sure that Ben and the others went down with it.

Now, everything was silent as Rook walked alone. Or, at least he thought he was alone. There was others in the water, wanting to drag him down with them. All wanting for him to suffer the way he had made them suffer, but they couldn't. They couldn't lay one invisible finger on him. Not now. Not until justice had been served.

Yet, Rook wasn't planning for that to happen. He wasn't going to let things happen that way. He wasn't going to be the one drowning in the water, suffering among the others. Ben was.

Rook grinned wickedly to himself, starting a light tune that echoed off the walls. He knew that he was trying to be silent, but he couldn't help himself from being pleased. After a while, he stopped whistling and just walked in dark silence., thinking just to himself.

'I'm coming for you, Benji.'

* * *

_This chapter is short, but mainly because I've already posted a chapter today. I guess you could consider this chapter as just a little bonus. :3_

_((I OWN THIS FAN FICTION AND ALL THE IDEAS AND OCs I PUT INTO IT. THIS IS COPYRIGHT RED WOLF PRODUCTIONS))_


	18. Fancy Meeting You Here

**WARNING: This chapter contains violence/gore.**

Chapter 18 – Fancy Meeting You Here

Ben didn't even care about keeping everyone together, anymore. His plan had fallen apart. He needed to get to the Ranger's Station, but he didn't have his friends with him anymore. He needed a new plan, and fast. So, he came up with a quick new one.

Deciding what he needed to do, Ben rushed through the caves, making sure that he kept a straight path and moved swiftly. His new plan was to make it to the Ranger's Station as quick as he could. Once he got there, he would call for help. Even if no one was there, there HAD to be a radio that he could use to call for help on. Someone would come and help. They would save the rest of Ben's friends. The new plan just had to work. It just had to.

Ben felt droplets hitting the top of his head from the opening at the top of the cave, and he knew that it was starting to rain. Great. Just his luck. Soon, the light rain quickly turned to heavy rain as it poured down into the caves and drenched Ben, as if he already wasn't wet enough. He kept running, though.

Ben felt as if he had a clear shot. If he kept running forward, he would make it to the slope leading down to the Ranger's Station. He just had to make it there. Maybe along the way he would run into his friends. Well, hopefully one of his friends that were still alive.

Ben heard yet another wolf howl, making the hairs on his neck stand on end. He panted from running so fast, his throat and chest feeling tight from all the running. His legs were sore, but he didn't stop. He just kept running. He felt as if his whole world was shaking, but he just ignored it. He just had to make it to the Ranger's Station before Rook. He just had to.

Without even noticing, Ben tripped over a rock, falling face down. Ben instinctively placed his hands out to brace his face, but he just kept falling. His heart pounded in his chest as he realized that he was falling down a deep, dark hole.

'No, no, no!' he screamed silently to himself.

Falling face first into the rift in the rocks, Ben let out a frightened shriek, but soon found that the dark hole wasn't as deep as he had thought. He hadn't been falling far when he landed on something soft, breaking his fall. Whatever Ben landed on not only broke his fall, but seemed to crumble as his weight bore down on it.

For a moment, Ben just lied there, letting rain lightly fall on him through the hole. Then, he began to notice something. Whatever was underneath him seemed to squish around underneath his weight, as if made of Jello. Ben's heart raced, feeling whatever was beneath him beginning to seep through his clothes. It was warm and wet, but sticky and gross feeling. Ben shivered at the sensation. His eyes darted around the wet walls of the rocks, seeing that they were wet from the rain, and from something else. His heart pounded frantically in his chest, seeing that the rocks were bright red.

Bolting up right, Ben gave a frightened scream as he got to his feet, trying not to slip in the substance. His heart just about leapt out of his chest to see the two mangled bodies. At first, Ben had thought there was three, but one of them was just simply ripped in half. Well, sawed in half. The other had been ripped open by the stomach, spilling out the intestines and everything else inside. Blood spilled everywhere, covering Ben's feet and back. He didn't need to look closer to know that the two people where Tack and Maya, and that Rook had been here.

Ben felt like throwing up, again, but he didn't have anything left to vomit. He then quickly snapped around towards the wall. He began to claw frantically, trying to find a way to claw his way out. He found cracks in the rocks, but there was blood covering most of the walls, making it slippery. Ben at this point didn't care much about touching anything with blood on it. He just wanted to get out, to get AWAY.

Ben willed himself not to cry, though. He didn't have anything to cry about, anymore. He didn't have anything inside himself to throw up. He was hungry. He was tired. He was scared.

Finally, Ben was able to get good enough foot and hand holds to climb his way out, making his way slowly up towards the top of the hole. He tried his best not to slip, but the rocks were too wet to NOT slip every now and again. However, he was soon able to escape the hole and climb his way out. His clothes clung to his body, mainly because of the sweat and blood covering his body.

Once Ben got out of the hole, he was met by a strike of lightning covering the sky. Ben was caught off guard, but he knew that he was close to being out of the caves, and he was close to the slope leading down to the Ranger's Station. He could make a run for it. Hopefully this time without slipping into any holes with bodies inside.

Taking a deep breath for luck, Ben began to sprint. A crack of thunder sounded over head, along with the cries of wolves. Ben took that as a warning, but he didn't have much of a choice, anymore. Taking a quick glance over at the Omnitrix, Ben was met with the same flashing, yellow light. Just wonderful.

Now he really was out of options.

'Any ideas?' Ben thought to himself, but mostly to the small voice in his head that always seemed to taunt him.

'Don't be too surprised by whatever you see.' the voice said, almost as REAL advise.

Ben shivered, as if knowing he was screwed.

However, Ben soon felt the ground dipping down and the rocky ground turning to grass. He saw as the hill turned into a slope, dipping down and showing the Ranger's Station down by the shoreline. The station rested on large boulders hanging over the lake. Large waves crashed into the sharp, huge rocks poking out of the water next to the station. Ben silently wondered if anyone had died from falling off the boulders and into those waters.

'Not yet.' the voice whispered, not sounding mean or sarcastic, but just simply as a warning.

Ben kept running until he made it to the Ranger's Station, yet again feeling rocks under his feet. He crashed through the wooden door, knowing that it must have been locked. He was wrong, though. The door was already open, which sent red flags everywhere. Why was the door open? It was nearly sunrise.

Inside the station was dark and gloomy, but musty and cold. Ben shivered, feeling all the liquids on his skin beginning to mix and smell. He smelt like a mix of blood, salt, and sweat. Not the best mix.

"Hello?" Ben called out. "Anyone here? My friends and I need help."

No answer.

Knowing that something was off, Ben walked further into the station, seeing that there were tables, in the middle was a radio, and a backroom. Ben wanted to check the backroom, but he went straight for the radio. Picking up one end, he held it to his ear, but heard nothing. Looking down to the ground, he saw one end of the cord, thinking it just wasn't plugged in. It was so dark in the station, Ben reached over to check it out.

However, when he touched the end of the cord, he was met with the severed end of the cord. Someone had cut the cord, cutting off communication with the radio. Ben swallowed a hard lump. If he ever watched enough horror movies, he knew that coming into the station was a horrible, horrible idea.

He also knew that going into the back room was an even worse idea, but people in horror movies did stupid things, and Ben in this case was that stupid person doing stupid things. So, swallowing all the bravery he had, he moved away from the table and radio, making his way towards the backroom with the slightly ajar door.

'Don't be too surprised ...' Ben repeated to himself from what the voice had told him.

Still, when Ben opened the door, he took a stuttered step back from the sight. It wasn't the worst he had seen from this 'vacation', but it still wasn't pleasant. On the ground lied what looked to be the ranger. He had died from being murdered, but his death wasn't as near as bad as the others. His murder was quick and clean, being a slit to the throat. Still, he must have been here for a while. His body was decaying with bugs and rodents feeding off his flesh.

Ben took another step back, but this time bumped into something else. Or, in this, someone. Looking up slowly, Ben looked up at the masked figure, but knew that this person was having a smug grin of some sort.

"Hello, Ben."

* * *

_This chapter came sooner then I expected. There's only going to be a couple more chapters after this one. :3_

_((I OWN THIS FAN FICTION AND ALL THE IDEAS AND OCs I PUT INTO IT. THIS IS COPYRIGHT RED WOLF PRODUCTIONS))_


	19. Don't You Dare Forget The Sun

**WARNING: This chapter contains violence/gore and strong language.**

Chapter 19 – Don't You Dare Forget The Sun

All hope that Ben had was gone. His head was spinning, his mind racing. What was even happening? He tried to piece everything back together from what had happened. His head hurt, so he tried to remember everything as quickly as possible. Somehow, he had hit the side of his head on the table, but he had stumbled back to his feet. How had he hit his head? Yes. That's right. He had jumped back from fright of Rook and slipped up. That must have been what happened.

Well, things weren't going as well, now. Ben was in a daze, his head spinning, feeling like he would throw up. His vision was blurred, and he wasn't sure if he really was going to make it. The ranger was dead, the cord to the radio was cut, and Rook was out for blood. What hope was there? None. Ben really did start coming to terms that he was going to die, there and then. Still, he wasn't going down without a fight.

Rook seemed amused by Ben's hazed state, though. Ben couldn't see his expression, but he just chuckled at Ben's unease and inability to stand upright.

"You're making this too easy." Rook chuckled.

When Rook took some steps forward, Ben's mind continued to race. Then, he went from the one place he knew for defense. Using his knee, he went for the groin. When he hit spot on and heard the wind being knocked out of Rook, he made a dash for the door.

Rook gave a roar of rage, but still hung back from pain. Ben just kept running, despite his blurred vision. Once he was outside, he just kept running in the direction that he thought was behind the Ranger's Station. In his state of confusion, he's completely forgot that the Ranger's Station sat on top of boulders hanging over the lake. He was quickly reminded when he felt ground dipping beneath him. He quickly pulled back, taking a couple steps back.

Ben just stood there for a moment, seeing that they sky had already turned dark with night, the light rain had turned to heavy rain, and lightning went off not too far in the distance. A crack of thunder followed. Before Ben could react, the back of his shirt was roughly grasped and yanked back, throwing him onto the ground.

"I have been dreaming of this day," he said, panting, but having a chuckle to his voice. "I have been thinking of all the possible ways to finally finish you off."

Ben scrambled backwards on the stone, Rook taking slow footsteps to follow him. Ben noticed something different, though. Rook wasn't wearing his mask. The sight sickened him. It wasn't anything that Ben had been expecting. The burnt side of his face was scabbed and unnatural, but what made Ben's stomach twist was his eye. Instead of being bright yellow like the other, it was a blood red.

"But you know what?" he said, a shaking to his voice. "I realized something. It doesn't matter how you die. As long as I watch you suffer, it'll all be worth my while."

Ben quickly glanced over his shoulder, seeing that the boulders dipped right below him. Waves crashed everywhere below, boulders in the water. Ben shook. He could have never guessed that he would die this way: sent adrift in the crashing waters and crushed by the dangerous rocks below. Either that or killed here and now by Rook. The sky overhead was looking pretty nasty. Dark clouds rolled in, showing thunder and lightning. From all the rain, the rocks were slippery, making it hard to not slip up.

Before Ben could think again, Rook had a blade out. Ben rolled to the side just in time for the blade to hit the spot her his neck should have been. Ben's heart beat frantically in his chest, but he kept with his pace. He tried defending himself by putting both his hands on the arm that held the blade, but Rook easily overpowered him. He was already on top of Ben, wrestling him. Ben let out a screech of fright as Rook ripped him arm away from Ben, and as both of them started slipping on the wet rocks backwards. Rook didn't seem to notice, though.

Yet, before he could strike again, both of the two started slipping sideways. They both turned around and Rook started to slip down from on top of Ben. He just then seemed to notice that they were slipping down the top of the rocks. Seeing that he was falling first, Rook grabbed hold of Ben's shirt, pulling them both down faster.

Seeing that they didn't have much more time until they'd completely fallen down the side, Ben roughly kneed Rook in the chest. Rook growled in pain, but still held tightly. Ben searched around for the dropped blade, but didn't find it. So, he continued to knee Rook in the chest, but this time he tried to pry his fingers off his shirt. Finally, Rook let go. Rook tried grabbing onto something else, but Ben scrambled around the rocks, looking for something to grasp onto. Rook caught on, doing the same.

Ben's fingers found their way around cracks in the rocks, just giving him enough time to pull himself up from slipping, but Rook wasn't so fortunate. He kept slipping, cursing and slipping all the same. Ben scrambled to the side, looking for a better place to look over where he wouldn't dip down and slip. He finally found a better place to lean over the edge and look down. He gasped once he saw Rook.

Rook hadn't slipped over the edge completely, but he held tightly to a rock hanging over the edge. He legs scrambled wildly, looking for something to push up onto. His hands held tightly to the rock that basically saved his life. When he saw Ben looking down on him, he gave nasty hiss. But before either of the two could say or do anything, there was a loud chopping sound. Ben looked up.

Probably the most beautiful and wonderful thing he had ever seen this entire break was the helicopter the flew over the Ranger's Station. A bright light beamed down on Ben and Rook. Rook was hardly seen, being covered by the hanging rocks. Still, the people must have known they were there. But how? Ben didn't know or care at the moment. He just looked back down at Rook.

"Bastard." Rook snarled in Ben's face. "Filthy bastard."

Ben ignored him, though. He had wanted to tell Rook some things at that moment. After all, this was the man that had killed his friends and just about killed him, but he didn't say anything. He just stared. He stared at Rook as he scrambled frantically for his own life. But then Ben did something. He did something that he would never forget.

"Rook," he said loudly, needing to be heard over the helicopter and just wanting Rook to hear him. "Take my hand."

Rook looked up at him with a wild expression, as if he hadn't heard right. "What?"

"Take my hand." Ben said, again, reaching down with his right hand.

Rook stared at it for a moment. Then his expression turned dark. He didn't reach for the hand. He just looked up at Ben with a smirk, not even trying to get a hold on the rocks, anymore. Ben stared back, not knowing what was happening.

"You really don't get it, do you?" he said clear as day.

Ben stared for a moment longer, but that was when the boulder that Rook held onto gave away. For some reason, Ben instinctively started to claw at it, trying to pull it back up, but it was no use. The rock gave away, plummeting down into the dangerous waters below. Ben watched with wide eyes as the rock clashed with others in the water, shattering and breaking apart. The waves crashed against the rocks below, as if reminding Ben that Rook wasn't meant to be saved, let alone live.

* * *

"Cold white walls, keep you from your pad and pen. You just wanna stab again. I can't believe it's half this hard, You never knew your mind was dark, no!"  
"Well, I think you're better off looking alone, 'Cause the boys that chase your hips can just go find their way home. You can dig so deep for scars, You never knew your mind was dark. Come on and breathe with me, oh! Breathe with me, oh!"  
"Well, I know you lay in bed, Contemplating your own death. Well, just look at what you've done. Don't you dare forget the sun, love!"  
"You look down on, me so casually, In everything I know. You look down on me, but not right on me. Did I wreck this broken home?"

Don't You Dare Forget The Sun – Get Scared

* * *

_This is the second to last chapter. The last chapter will be uploaded soon. This story has a special ending that I'm pretty proud of. :3_

_((I OWN THIS FAN FICTION AND ALL THE IDEAS AND OCs I PUT INTO IT. THIS IS COPYRIGHT RED WOLF PRODUCTIONS))_


	20. In The End

Chapter 20 – In The End

Ben woke up in a soft, white bed. In his confusion, he reached out to touch the white sheet, feeling it's fabric between his fingers. Had ... it all been a dream? No. Ben could still see Rook's face in the back of his mind, and he could still feel the lifeless bodies below him when he had fallen onto them. It was all too real. But what was happening now? Why was he here?

"Ben?" a voice asked.

Ben looked up to see his Grandpa, someone he thought he would never see again. He sat in a wooden chair next to Ben's white bed. Instantly, Ben tried to sit up in bed, but a shooting pain went through his head. He moaning in pain, feeling his temple, but pulling back when he felt the instant pain.

"Take it easy, Ben." Max said. "You're still healing."

"Where ..." Ben started, lying back down on the soft pillow, feeling light headed. "Where am I?"

"The hospital." someone else answered.

Ben turned his gaze to the side to see someone standing in the doorway to his hospital room. His heart beat in his chest to see his cousin, more then happy to see her alright. He began to wonder if he was dreaming, but if he was, then he didn't want to be woken up.

Gwen walked into the room, standing on the other side of the bed. Ben noticed that one of her arms had white wrapping around it, but she didn't seem hurt otherwise.

"What happened to your arm?" Ben asked, seeming a bit dazed. He noticed that his voice sounded a little slurred.

Gwen noticed, too, and just gave a grin. "Don't you remember?"

Ben for some reason smiled. He didn't know why he was smiling, but he just shook his head to the side, grinning. "Nope."

Max chuckled ever so slightly. "He still seems a little out of it."

"No, I'm fine." Ben assured, but he knew that something was wrong. Still, he wanted to know about Gwen's arm. He waited for her answer.

"I scraped it on the rocks out front." Gwen answered. "When I was trying to help you in. You didn't seem to want to walk straight."

Ben remembered something else. Rocks ... rocks ...

"My head." he said simply.

"Yep." Max chuckled. "You hit your head pretty good on something. We tried asking you what, but you just kept laughing. So we let you sleep."

Ben thought for a moment, and realized he was still smiling. He dropped the smile, and then turned to Gwen. "You ... did you get checked out for anything?"

"No." she answered, looking kind of confused. "Why would I?"

Ben just shut his eyes, his head still spinning. "I ... don't know. Just thought you were hurt for some reason."

Before anyone could say anything, someone else walked in. Ben kept his eyes shut, though. He felt like he was going to throw up from his head spinning so much, but at the same time he was so hungry, he didn't have anything to throw up. When was the last time he had eaten? Still, Ben noticed that there wasn't just one person walking into the room, but two.

One of them seemed to be a nurse or something. "He checks out fine."

"Are you sure? Nothing major? He still seems a bit loopy ..." Max hesitated.

"I'm sure." she answered, but her answer was hesitated, too. "Mr. Max Tennyson? I understand that his parents aren't here, yet, but may I speak with you for a moment? Seeing that you're going to be the one checking him out, then I'll need to speak with you for a moment."

Ben opened his eyes, then. He saw that his grandpa stood up with a worried expression. He also saw that Gwen had moved to the back of the room to talk to someone. Wait. That person looked familiar. Ben got a closer look and saw that it was someone he knew. He just couldn't remember at that moment ...

"Ghetto?" Ben asked in a weak voice.

The fish boy's head turned towards Ben. A weak smile drew across his lips. "Hello, Ben. I see you are awake."

"Hm ..." Ben hummed, not feeling well enough to form words. He just closed his eyes and laid back. His head hurt, but not as bad as before. He just listened as his cousin and his friend whispered. He didn't even bother trying to listen to their conversation, though.

Soon enough, Max returned to the room. He sat back down in the chair and leaned over on Ben's bed. When Ben opened his eyes, he grinned back at his grandpa.

"Hey, Grandpa." Ben yawned.

"Hey there, trooper." he replied. "How ya feeling?"

"Tired ... hungry ..." Ben started, but stopped. He didn't really feel like giving all the details.

Max just sighed. "Yeah. I'm sorry. The doctor says you're okay to check out, so we'll be leaving. I'm taking you home. Your parents are really sorry that they couldn't be here, but they'll be meeting us at your house. Sound good?"

"Hm-hm." Ben hummed, sounding like answer enough. "What about Gwen and Ghetto?"

"We're dropping Ghetto off at his house on the way home, and Gwen is coming with us to your house. She can't stay for long, though. Her parents were here earlier, but they want her home soon."

"Hm-kay." Ben replied. Suddenly, he felt like this was all too real and not a dream.

* * *

When Ben got home, he didn't even bother with eating. He didn't even go in his own bed before he crawled onto the couch that he had missed so much and fell asleep. When he woke up, he found that there was a thick blanket around him. His head felt much better at this point, and he was starting to slowly remember things. Still, he sort of wished he could just forget everything.

Easing himself off the couch, Ben felt light-headed. Sighing, he threw the blanket off himself and stood up. He made his way towards the stairs and towards the bathroom. Once he got to his bathroom, he threw off all his old clothes and allowed himself to shower. If only the clean water could wash away all the memories.

* * *

Ben went back downstairs in new, clean clothes. His head felt much better, but he took his grandpa's advice to take things easy. When he got back to the living room, he saw that both his parents were on the couch. His mother was the first to shoot up and reach over to her son. She grasped him in her arms, bursting into a sob. Ben for some reason just stood motionless, feeling emotionless. His expression was stone set.

Ben's father stood up from the couch, his expression beyond worried, but unsure what to do. Finally, Ben's mother let go of her son and wiped away the tears.

"Thank goodness you're alright." she shuttered. Her husband put his hand on her shoulder, steading her. "We were worried sick when we heard the news ..."

Ben took in a deep breath, cracking a weak smile for the sake of his mother and father. "Well ... I'm fine now. I mean, I was a little confused when I woke up, but ..."

"Oh, Grandpa told us to explain that to you when you were feeling better." she said meekly, running her fingers through Ben's hair lovingly. "You got a minor concussion. When you were brought to the hospital you were too loopy to tell anyone anything, so they just gave you some medication and let you sleep. Your father and I were stuck half way across the city at the time. We just got back home a couple hours ago. You were asleep."

Ben just nodded, sitting back down on the couch. His head was still dizzy, and he didn't really feel like taking in all this information. Suddenly, he felt more confused then ever. How was he to feel? Everything about this just felt ... unreal. He had lost all his friends, not including Gwen and Ghetto. Yet, he didn't feel anything.

He felt ... numb.

* * *

The next few weeks went by slowly. Ben wished that he could just disappear, mostly from the media. People from all around wanted to ask him about his near death encounter, but Ben kept quiet. And Ben's family made sure to keep people away. After all, he was still recovering.

The only person that Ben ever really talked to was Gwen. Gwen said that she talked to Ghetto sometimes, but he was isolated. He wasn't paranoid like Ben was, but he seemed to know something that no one else did. When Gwen tried talking to him about it, he would just shy away from the subject, acting like he had something else to do or something else on his mind. Gwen had even tried getting Ghetto to talk with Ben, perhaps have the two talk about things together, but Ghetto was sure to stay away from Ben for some reason.

Ben felt guilty, though. Through all his pain and worry, he knew that Gwen wasn't doing any better. After all, she had lost Kevin. She'd lost the person she loved and all her friends. Ben didn't blame her for thinking he was selfish for being the one to be hurting. But Gwen wasn't really the only help he got.

About five times a week he went to see a therapist. Ben hadn't opened up at first, seeing that this person didn't understand and wouldn't even begin to understand what he was going through. About after about a week of keeping his mouth shut, Ben had finally began to start working.

School wasn't the biggest subject on Ben's mind at the moment. Ben's parents had hired a tutor for Ben, but that was about it. Until they were sure he was ready to return to public school, he was staying away from the public. Ben was fine with that. He didn't feel like talking to anyone unless it was his parents, Gwen, his therapist, or his tutor.

However, after a few weeks of doing the same thing, something had changed. That was when Ben found out something about their friends. Normally, Ben wouldn't watch the news due to the fact that it was just about him and the depressing things that happened back at Wolfe Ridge (or also known as the place never again to be mentioned), but Ben felt comfortable enough to watch the news that day. He suddenly wished he hadn't.

Gwen must have seen the news, too, because she rushed over to Ben's house to comfort him, and to also seek comfort for himself. The two had just sat on the couch and held each other as if they were little kids, again. According to the police reports, all of the bodies had been found. And much, much more. Wolfe Ridge was named a hot spot for famous murders, all committed by the same murderer. Yet, that was the problem. All the victims had been found, yet the body of the killer hadn't.

When police had reached out to Ben, he had finally given information. He had told them where the attack had been, where he had nearly died, and where Rook's body should have been. The police and detectives thanked him, and then left. Ben told Gwen that he was going to need time alone, and she understood, leaving his house. Ben's mother asked if she could do anything, and he just said he was going to sleep for a while. So he did.

* * *

Days passed. Nothing was found. No more bodies. No more evidence. Nothing.

Ben stayed in his room the whole weekend and chanced his tutor on Monday. He even went as far as ditching his therapy session on Monday, as well. Yet, it gave him more time to think things over. Perhaps he was just being paranoid. Yeah. That was it. He was just being paranoid because he saw Rook fall into the ridge, but yet the people couldn't find his body. Yeah. That was it.

Still, it gave him more to talk about on Tuesday when he went back to therapy. First, his therapist asked why he didn't come the day before, and he told her the truth, saying he needed time to think to himself. She understood. Then she asked what was bugging him and why he needed time to think, and he told her exactly why, saying that the person who killed his friends wasn't found, yet. And might never be found. She just sat there for a moment. Ben had opened up to her about his friends before, but he was touchy-touchy on the topic of the person who took their lives.

Yet, little did Ben know that things were only going to get worse for him.

* * *

At this point, Ben just wished that he had spent more time with Ghetto. He wished that he and Ghetto could have talked about things and spent time together instead of staying away from each other. Now, Ben regretted it. Now he knew why.

Gwen had been more upset then Ben when they heard the news, though. She had been closer to him and spent more time with him. She had talked about things more with him, and hearing about his death just crushed her. She never knew that he would do such a thing. He was shy at times, and he seemed to be quiet, but he was always the person to point out the brightest of things.

No one was prepared for anything like this, though. It was all so sudden. One day he had been just normal, swimming in his pond like always, but the next day something had changed and he just decided he couldn't take anything anymore. He couldn't handle the pain and the suffering, so he took his own life. He left a note, simply just saying that he couldn't take the horrible things in life anymore, but that he loved everyone in his life that had been there for him. Then, he had simply just let himself go onto a highway during the night.

Yet, Ghetto's death made Ben decide that he had unfinished business to attend to. Deciding that he needed to talk to his grandpa, he had called him. He waited for a while on his phone, hearing the ringing. He thought about hanging up before Max answered, but he just held his breath and waited for either his grandpa to pick up or for the voice mail to start. But then, his grandpa answered.

"Ben? Is that you?" he answered.

Ben stopped holding his breath, replying. "Yeah. It is."

"Oh, great! I haven't heard from you in weeks! How have things been?"

Ben just lied back on his bed, staring up at his white ceiling, thinking. "Things have been ... okay." That was a lie, but he wasn't calling his grandpa to talk about how things have been going. "Grandpa? Can you come over? I ... I want to give you something."

Max seemed confused, but he agreed to come over, nevertheless. Once he got there, he and Ben sat alone in the living room. Ben pulled something out of his pants, something that he had nearly forgotten about. But his mother had found it in one of his pants while she was washing laundry, and left it in the laundry room. Ben had considered destroying the thing, or even chucking it back in the lake, but he already knew he was never going back to the ridge. Instead, he'd decided to let Grandpa Max decide what to do with it.

When Max saw the broken badge, he seemed a little confused. "What's that?"

"It's ..." Ben started, seeming to hesitate. But he continued. "It's Rook's old badge. I found it up at the ridge."

Max seem stunned, staring at the badge as if it were cursed, or as if there was something unknown to it. Still, he reached out and carefully took it in his hands. As he did so, he noticed that Ben's Omnitrix was still flashing yellow.

"Your watch is still busted?" Max asked, trying to draw attention away.

Ben sighed. "Ever since I got to the ridge it's been acting weird."

"Hm." Max hummed, seeming both interested and confused. "Maybe you should see Azmyth?"

Ben just shifted around on the couch uncomfortably. "Maybe." He stared at the badge in his grandfather's hands. "Maybe."

* * *

It was a whole month before Ben saw Azmyth. And when he did, his Omnitrix was working just fine. Still, Grandpa Max wanted him to have his watch checked out. The two went there together to see Azmyth. When Azmyth checked it out, though. He seemed a little skeptic.

"Has there been any interface contact with it lately?" he asked.

Ben was confused, shooting Azmyth a troubled look.

Shaking his head, Azmyth tried again. "Has anything been blocking it? Tampering with it?"

Ben just shrugged. "Not that I know of."

"Well," Azmyth started to explain. "From the way I see it, something like a router had been keeping you from using your watch. What ever it WAS, it's now gone."

"What do you think it was?" Max asked.

Azmyth just shrugged. "Well, it's not important now, is it?"

Still, Ben and Grandpa Max had a pretty good idea what was blocking his watch. And when Max did a secret test one day at HQ by putting the old badge in his pocket and walking around with Ben, he couldn't help but noticing the bright, flashing yellow lights. Max just didn't say anything as he took apart the badge and made sure it wouldn't ever again effect Ben.

* * *

Opening the passenger door and stepping out of the car, Ben looked down the sidewalk that lead straight to the school. School had started again almost two months ago, but he had spent all this time recovering from the incident. Ben thought he could have gone earlier, but from other therapy sessions, he learned he just wasn't ready. But now, he was pretty sure he was prepared. Still, he just stood there on the corner of the street, holding the side of the car door.

"Ben?" his father asked, seeing his son's discomfort. He sighed, knowing this might happen. "Son, I what you to know that I love you, and no one is making you do this. If you're not ready, then that's okay. We can stick with a tutor."

"No." Ben said suddenly. "I ... I want to do this."

His dad let himself crack a smile. Although he had seemed cool as ice the entire time Ben had returned, everything had been weighed down on him. Seeing his son so brave gave him a sense of hope. "You sure?"

"Yeah. I'm sure." Ben mumbled. "I ... I'll meet you here after school."

"Alright. Love you." his dad muttered.

"Love you, too ..." Ben replied, slamming the door shut.

Once his dad left, Ben just stood there for a moment. Some people had already seemed to notice him, whispering silently to one another. Ben just took in a deep breath, like his therapist had told him to do.

'Take a deep breath, and take the world one step at a time.'

Now, instead of hearing the voice of paranoia and fear, Ben only heard his own. He heard the advice he ever learned from the others, and whatever he wanted to hear. If he was willing to listen to others, then he would be able to have that voice of confidence, rather then that imaginary one that seemed to slowly drive him insane.

'One step at a time ...'

* * *

_LAST CHAPTER !_

_I'm both happy and sad to post the last chapter of Wolfe Ridge. I'm happy to finally be done with it, but I'm sad to have to end it. All great things have to come to and end, though._

_I'm actually pretty happy with the ending. I was worried half way through this story that the ending was going to be crap, but this ending is better then what I thought it would be. Sorry if you don't understand some parts of the story, but I tried my best to tie everything together in this ending. Everything is basically explained, you just have to sort of read between the lines, or just remember bits and parts from the other chapters._

_((Confession: I was going to have Ghetto's death be him mysteriously drowning, but considering he's a fish person, his death would have just made the ending even more confusing to some people. In order to understand his death, you would have to do more 'reading between the lines'.))_

_Thank you for reading !_

_((I OWN THIS FAN FICTION AND ALL THE IDEAS AND OCs I PUT INTO IT. THIS IS COPYRIGHT RED WOLF PRODUCTIONS))_


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